The_Diamond_Z

I can imagine that local shops can deal with repairing hardware (wheels, handles, etc) but anything more probably has to go to B&R.
I'm not a fan of the Torq line - I just don't see a lot of used/beat up examples on conveyor belts in airports.

The ballistic nylon products (i.e. Baseline) are the ones that last and I always spot a few up examples when travelling.
That said, if you don't have a local B&R repair center/shop it can get expensive.

This is exactly what happens to mine. 3 repairs in 20+ years.

jvde

Not per se. Most of my flying is with b737 or a320 (Europe based.) so this would include low cost airlines. I know OMAAT uses this one - he replied to my tweet he never experienced any issues but I don't fly J or F as often as he does so want to double check and see what others might have experienced.

I'm doubting between the briggs & Riley either international carry on or the domestic one. I could get the domestic which is a bit smaller but I really would like to have as much space as possible to avoid check in luggage.

chipmaster

FWIW my BR International fits in all versions of 737 sometimes bookcase style, but always length wise, same with the airbus, even on the Embr175 they make it. The domestic being a tad thicker if packed full won't make it.

lrg20

I started a new job back in August that requires me to be on the road almost every week - sometimes for a few days, other times the whole week. I used this site to help with my research and ended up buying the B&R domestic carry-on spinner. I think you can get yourself a little crazy reading all the reviews like they're gospel, to be honest.

Here's my almost four-month assessment:

• This bag has fit in the overhead of everything I've flow (except one of the small commuter planes where everyone needed to gate check). I fly mostly United and it's not been an issue at all.
• On one trip to London, I managed to pack for 6 days in the carry-on, which included two suits. I wore one jacket and packed the other in the suitcase using the Brooks Brothers method and put the suit jacket in the "suitor" section of the suitcase (instead of hanging it) and the jacket came out almost wrinkle-free! I extended the suitcase all the way and compressed it once on the plane to see how much I needed to compress it to get it to fit in the overhead.
• Wheels work well and are smooth. Not so much on carpet or gravel - but about what I would expect from the bag.
• The handle works well. It has several adjustable lengths which work well. I usually plop my back back on top of the bag the the varying adjustable lengths help big time when putting a bad on top to find the right handle length.
• The bag has never tipped over. I've tried to tip it over and it just doesn't for me. Don't know what others are doing to get theirs to tip over.
• I don't use the small thin zipped pouch on the back, but appreciate and use the zippered spaces in the front. I use the small space to store all my trip receipts.

Generally seems like a great bag so far. It's doing the trick for me. This is the first new bag I've purchased in years and I'm happy so far.

nmpls

The only non-RJ bins I've had issues with are the very front bins on 737s, but those won't fit any full size carryon unless you turn them lengthwise.

jvde

Thanks all. Purchased it. Due to amazon messing up I got 2 bags for the price of one so good deal. Excited to give it a try. Quality already feels amazing!

PinaColada

Review of the Briggs & Riley Sympatico International Carry-on Expandable Spinner Luggage (model SU121CXSP-59)
While going through the forums I saw a post from a month ago mentioning that there wasn’t any decent reviews on the Sympatico spinner (and I agree, there really aren’t) so I decided to make a little mini review since I just purchased it and just got back from a one week trip.

Now I’m not going to go through the whole debate about whether 2 wheels or 4 wheels are better since that is a topic that is hotly debated on this forum, but my quick thoughts on it, is my preference from 4 wheels come from me constantly being on the move in airports and in and out of hotels (where smooth surfaces are typically the norm) and 4 wheels in my opinion are easier to move and stand upright in that environment. In any cases that I roll through cobble stone streets in Europe or such, the 4 wheel luggage serves me fine. Next up another hotly debated topic on this forum, hard case luggages vs soft cases. For my personal experience after an unexpected quick flash tropical rainstorm during the summer and my bag being in the back of a rickety truck, I decided that a hard case worked better for me, plus I like the sleekness. So if you want a hard case with 4 wheels this has probably come up on your radar.

Briggs and Riley bags on this forum have been written about constantly with many swearing by their lifetime guarantee and talking about their good quality for road warriors, well all of your post made me excited to get this bag after I finally saw it on sale one day. I was able to snatch up the bag in blue at 50% discount on the B&R site, so paid $289 instead of its standard price of $579. I went for the blue as my last black bag had gotten picked up by strangers a few times from the gate check on those regional CRJ as it looked like every other bag- overall a big fan of the color but realize this is in the eye of the beholder.

I also got the international bag after my last Costco Kirkland domestic sized enterprises bag got checked on some short European flights and I wanted one bag to rule them all. The bag size works for me, as I am typically a M-Th travler (during non COVID times) and typically pack 3 days of dress shirts and dress pants, underpants, socks, 1 pair of jeans, 2 workout shirts and shorts, ultraboosts, and my toiletry bag. And when on vacation will travel for one week (I’m a simple traveler) and this bag holds everything I need for my trips.

This bag is a 70-30 lid which I was a little hesitant about since my last bag was 50-50 but I was happily surprised that I like it, especially works well for luggage racks at hotels. I currently pack it so the 30 lid side fits my shoes and toiletry bag nicely (it also has a suiter soft rod to clinch your suit which I took out as not using it) and the 70 side fits all my clothes.

The expandable section with compression is nice and does allow you to carry significantly more if you pick up some knickknacks during your travels.

The quality of the luggage seems top notch with the double spinner wheels rolling very smoothly, the zippers seeming strong and zips smoothly (has a built in TSA friendly lock too), and the handle is sturdy and smooth. I will caveat that I have just used the bag for one trip so can’t speak to the future durability of the bag, so will come back to update the review in the future.

Now for my negatives- my last bag had an interior little flat pocket to put little things in which I liked and there are zero pockets in this bag.

Overall this is a really nice bag and I hope to live out of this bag (after this COVID mess) for many many years to come.



Briggs and Riley Sympatico box



Briggs and Riley Sympatico Packing



Briggs and Riley Sympatico Bag (side view)



Briggs and Riley Sympatico Bag (open view)


If you have any specific question feel free to ask. Thanks!



Now a question for the flyertalk B&R community. Have any of you had the photos on the website not match the bag received? In my case the bag I received did not have the side handle as shown in the pictures (a small disappointment for getting my bag in and out of the trunk of Ubers.)



Briggs and Riley Sympatico photo from the B&R website showing side handle

Global Adventurer

I finally was able to use two of my new Briggs and Riley suitcases. I have a two wheel cabin bag (smaller than the spinner version), and a 21" International Carry-on. I've read all the reviews about the good and bad, and the reviewers were correct regarding the fact the spinner carry-on does fall if you don't position the wheels correctly. It falls with or without a secondary bag on top of it. Other than that I can't find anything wrong with either piece. They fit together like cookies and ice cream. In the back of the smaller rolling cabin bag is a pullout connector that tightly attaches it to the main Carry-on. Best purchase I've made in years. I also purchased the non-wheeled expandable cabin bag too, that can be paired with the cabin bag.

After years of traveling with luggage from A-Z, I've found that there's no set type of luggage for all traveling styles, and therefore every adventure requires a different type, style, version and size of luggage.

I'm actually considering purchasing a Rimowa original Cabin-S next month for trips involving numerous stops and overnighters that can hopefully deal with weather issues too. I like the plain look of the original.

jbandy10

I'm seriously considering their leather backpack at $262 on sale. I'm using an old army surplus $25 backpack and while it gets the job done, it's gaudy and not always practical.