Roller vs. Spinner
 

I need help to settle an argument.

A friend of mine is going to Italy and will be visiting small towns. That means his bag will have to go from the train station to his hotels on rough pavement and cobblestones. (No cabs.)

He only takes carry on size luggage. He thinks he'll be fine with his new four wheel spinner. I say he should stick with his rolling bag (2 wheels) for this type of trip as the spinner wheels may not be able to handle it.

Anyone have experience with carry on size spinners in this type of situation?

Thanks.

I love my spinner but it works best on smooth surfaces. Otherwise, you just end up dragging it like a 2-wheel bag, which is fine as long as the wheels are fairly sturdy. In a pinch, you can always go old-school and carry it for awhile since a carry-on won't weigh much.

That's my concern. Dragging it like a two wheeler is the option for rough surfaces only the wheels on a spinner aren't as strong as the wheels on a roller.

I whole heartedly suggest a 2 wheeled roller for durability under these and other circumstances.

A 2-wheeler is the only way to go, the spinner will not only fail to navigate the uneven streets it will likely break.

BJ

Or...he can use a combo backpack/duffle type of carry-on.

Recently, I've covered about 40k air miles in Asia and North America with my "new" spinner and it has held up quite well over all pavements.

So I would advise if you friend has a quality spinner (read excellent wheels), then his trip to Europe will probably be OK.

That said, the only real way to avoid mechanical issues is to have a tough suitcase without wheels.

As an aside, I do believe the durability gap between spinner and puller carry-ons has closed significantly, as there seem to be fewer horror story posts regarding wheel breakage.

Having handled other people's spinners before, they seem to work great on perfectly smooth surfaces like hard airport floors but on carpet, rough surfaces (like cobblestone, going on/off of sidewalks via the curb, etc), and sloped surfaces, two wheeled bags with good wheels just seem easier to handle. And spinners sometimes seem a bit clumsy due to the rotating wheels when you try to use them like a two wheeler.

Neither: For small town Euro travel I recommend NO WHEELS. I would use something that you can put on your back. Ex; RedOxx Skytrain, Tom Bihn Aeronaut, Minaal, etc. The majority of your luggage moving experience outside of the airport makes using wheels 2 or 4 wheels a questionable venture at best. The convenience and versatility you get from having it on your back, in 90% of small town Euro travel situations, outweighs the luxury of gliding your luggage along on smooth surfaces and letting the wheels eat the gravity pull. I love wheeled luggage but save that for large Euro cities and nearly all US trips.

London, UK= wheeled
Ye Cobble Stoned Village of Yesteryear = non-wheeled
Mix of the two = non-wheeled

+1, although I'd extend that to large cities as well. Crowded train stations, stairs, cobblestones, curbs, hotels with no elevators, wet snow or leaves etc. are all a breeze with a backpack. Both your hands are free. And although a backpack may encourage you to pack lighter (which is always a good thing), if you add some packing cubes you'll be surprised how much you can comfortably carry on your back.

didn't Venice forbid wheels some time ago? or was that a rumour only?

--

---
Nevermind, just googled it, it was BS

I can't stand how spinners have taken over, I prefer rollers any day of the week, they just work better and are more robust.

Rollers!! Or a back pack.

How will you be doing the majority of your traveling? If you are traveling on trains where you can put your bag in a rack, fine, but I know for me, traveling on the London Tube with a spinner case is an absolute no. A roller I can leave against the wall. A spinner will need to be held in place for the whole journey.

yes, good point. Spinners must be held on to on trains etc. as they like to roll away.

Anyway, I have both and would only take a roller.

Lojel do a spinner with brakes to stop that