I'm a cheap sob but I have to tell you that the I have briggs-riley 21" expandable and WOW is it great. It's not light at 12lbs but I have only had one time when I was asked to weight my bag.

The only minor drawback to me is that you can't slide it in to overhead bins length ways, it has to go in sideways. It's really 22.5" once you measure with the wheels on it. Tricky little people

The expandable version is probably much more than you need. As for the wheels. I haven't ever pulled such a well balanced bag in my life. With my laptop strapped to it I'm going to guess than I am pulling over 40lbs and it's effortless. I was really worried about the wheels as they don't look very tough but not a sign of wear on them in over 45 segments since I got it.

Good luck, it's so confusing to try and find something