I was recently in the market for a replacement wheeled carry-on after almost ten years with my 22" TravelPro Crew 4. It is beginning to wear out and I've been asked to gate check it as the airlines have increased carry-on size enforcement.

I bought a 20" Crew 8 as a replacement and was really surprised at how much less-durable it seems. My Crew 4 was bulletproof and very well thought out. The new Crew 8 feels cheaper and traded features I liked (like an extender panel and integrated toiletry bags) for ones that I don't (a big business organizer/laptop pocket that I'll never use). Maybe I'm being harsh, but it is hard to see it lasting a decade like the last one did. I'm thinking of returning it.

After spending a lot of time reading the posts here, I'm becoming more interested in Briggs & Riley. My impression is that the quality of the B&R Baseline series is quite a bit higher than the Crew 8. Is this a generally-accepted truth, or are there folks on the other side of the debate?

If I do go with B&R, I have the opportunity to choose between a 20" or an 18" (a size not included in the Crew 8 line). I've tentatively narrowed my search down to these two models (though other suggestions are welcome):
I was surprised to see that you lose only about 5% of the storage space by moving from the 20" to the 18" model (2016 sq in vs 2118 sq in) but you save almost 15% of the weight (8.4 lbs vs 9.7 lbs). In real-world packing scenarios, is the size difference really noticeable?

The 18" is expandable, which is fine but not high on my priority list since the bag won't fit the sizer while expanded. The 20" appears to have several additional features--including the extender panel which I like. Are there other factors I should be considering?

Both bags appear to fit all domestic bag size units, but only the 18" can sail through all the ones I'm likely to encounter internationally, per this thread.

At the moment, I'm slightly favoring the B&R 18" due to weight and certainty of fitting the sizers, but I'd be upset if I receive the bag only to discover that it isn't significantly better than my 20" Crew 8.

What are your thoughts on these issues?