As city dwellers with three kids and no allegiance to any airline, we're fans of big, simple, rolling duffel bags. They're lightweight and capacious so we can schlep maximum stuff for minimum baggage fees, and when empty they collapse to be almost flat so they're easy to shove in the back of a closet when we're not traveling.
A decade or so ago we bought a pair of big Travelpro rolling duffels that were perfect for our needs, but we ran them into the ground to the point where the luggage repair guy wouldn't even take our money to fix them (let alone fix them under Travelpro's mediocre warranty). Travelpro discontinued them long ago.
We replaced the first Travelpro to die with a Delsey rolling duffel. It was similar to the Travelpros, but I didn't like the shape as much (the Travelpros were longer and shallower, making it easier to find stuff inside). The Delsey's wheel recently broke. I took it to the luggage repair guy who said it was covered under warranty and they'd just ship me a new one. But the new one just came, and it's not a rolling duffel but a hard-sided spinner. It's a pretty nice suitcase, but it doesn't hold nearly as much stuff and it takes up WAY more space in my closet. And it looks like Delsey doesn't even sell a rolling duffel any more.
We bought a cheap (I think we paid $40?) "Ecko" brand one off of Amazon a year ago when the second Travelpro died, and it's been fine, but it's cheaply made and I don't expect it to last long. While I suppose I could go on buying $40 rolling duffels off of Amazon and simply replacing them when they inevitably break every couple years, I'd much rather find another pair of good quality big rolling duffels that will last us another decade or so.
Does such a thing exist any more? I know Travelpro still sells the 30" Bold "drop bottom" rolling duffel, but I don't love the "drop bottom" thing and it's not exactly cheap. Anybody have one?
Why are SO many of the checked-luggage suitcases on the market these days hard-sided spinners? It seems like every suitcase company sells a dozen of those, and no decent rolling duffels. I realize the spinners are more maneuverable and the hard sides are often a little lighter than soft sides, but I just want a big bag with two wheels that won't take up space in my closet and will survive a few dozen plane trips.