emergencyrequest

Hi I wanted to get the Briggs & Riley Essential Carry On Spinner but concerned the One-touch CX® expansion plastic can break if I have the bag extended while fully loaded. After reaching a destination I often have to buy extra supplies and want to see if it is safe to expand the bag while moving around from hotel to hotel without breaking the CX plastic expansion. Do I have to compress the bag everytime before moving it around?

Thanks

Global Adventurer

I use my baseline spinner in expanded mode all the time when I have to check a bag, take it on a long distance bus, or take it to a local hotel for an event. It works wonders expanded or not.

emergencyrequest

Thanks, GA. I almst got the Travelpro Elite 21 but seems like smart money is for B and R.

manacit

I have checked my B&R baseline 2-wheel on many flights, long and short, in it's fully extended capacity and it's held up just fine. Same for carting it around when I'm moving. I don't worry about it holding up.

Global Adventurer

I had looked at Travelpro products before purchasing the B&R, but it seems "to me" they are the best for 2 wheel carryons, such as the "Flight Crew 5" rollerboard version. I think B&R is good as a spinner bag. Besides that, I really like "suiter" section. I don't wear suits but you can lay several pairs of pants in there and shirts and they arrive non-wrinkled. That's the best part of that suitcase. And the open section I put all the miscellaneous stuff and some packing cubes.

Global Adventurer

Another thing, you can purchase extra wheels and handles and have them before you ever need them. I got all the wheels and handles....you pay shipping only (which probably includes the price of the parts), but I'm glad I have all the regular replacement parts for just in case. TravelPro doesn't have those as far as I know.

ftweb

I just bought a B&R baseline essential carry-on (nominally 9"x14"x22") a month ago. I love the idea of the CX expansion, because it makes it easier to pack with the sidewalls up. Unfortunately, I find that it doesn't necessarily stay compressed. When my bag is very full, I can pack it down to the compressed size, but then it often pops back up later on. I'm wondering if I could have gotten a defective bag (though this happens on both sides), or if it is normal. One possibility is that when I press down on my clothes, they expand out sideways against the CX mechanism and release it. Obviously I never have this problem with a traditional zipper expander.

Has anyone else experienced similar problems?

Global Adventurer

There was a poster in a different thread that had an issue with one of the compression units. I haven't had any issues with mine and I always overpack, and the reason I purchased this suitcase. I have the original one, but I assume they both have the same compression gadgets. When you compress it while it is full, do you compress one said at a time? I find that doing one side at a time pretty much makes sure it's fully compressed and locked. You can feel when it totally engages. And you have to do it on a hard surface like the floor and not a bed for it to be effective.

ftweb

If I compress one side at a time, the first side will pop open when I compress the second side. If I compress both sides at once, it will sort of stay closed, but then sometimes pops open later.

While I've been traveling a lot in the month since I bought that suit case, fortunately no airline has forced me to put it in a sizer. I figure I could always re-compress it and hope it stays closed while I put it in the sizer, though I'm also worried the wheels might be hard to fit in. All-in-all, I think the suitcase is usable, but I find the CX mechanism kind of janky.

Global Adventurer

That's not normal unfortunately. Sorry to hear you're having problems with the compression unit.

R1180m

I just ordered the baseline and zdx from Amazon to compare them. I test packed each suitcase to see which could hold more and if the plastic push down system on the baseline worked better than the center zip around on the zdx.
Each bag is brand new and I have test packed them 3x each to varying levels of fullness comparing them both. On the baseline filled at its max the compression pops open one click. Like the other poster said one side compresses and then the other pops up one click. It is the top compression clip that comes open. If you pull or yank the suitcase from the handle the top clip pops undone completely
by comparison the zdx with the Same amount of clothes without the system if I kneel on it it is a tight “squish” but it will close and the zip it zips all the way

it was more awkward to kneel and zip the zdx but seems more effective or reliable at least
the push down on the baseline seemed pretty easy and at first was impressive but it didn’t get 100% back to flat a 1/4” little bit was left expanded and then it popped

On the baseline I love the top mesh suit pocket and the clean square open face of the baseline and that when full open the walls stay up
i want to pick the baseline
but if the clips pop open over time or With heavy handling
I can’t see why I shouldn’t get the zdx
any one ever compare both?

for fellow posters that say they have never had the clips pop open - are you maxing it out? Just seeing the stress load it can handle

SBop

I haven’t tried the Baseline but I love the ZDX. It just won’t quit no matter how much I overstuff it. However, I’m wondering why they used a smaller zip on the compression portion and the larger zip on the main part of the bag.

bunta

So based on your experience with both the Baseline and ZDX,.. If both compression system were fully expanded, which model has the higher capacity ?? im a bigger guy, so my clothes are bigger, so every liter/cubic inch counts lol.

paterwdb

I have the baseline 22 2-wheel and am having the same question. Coming from a Tumi expandable I never once had it pop up in use.

But with the BR when I have it loaded full and zip it shut, it is clearly locked down in the unexpanded position. Within a short traverse through the airport I find that one or both sides have popped to the expanded position. The bag is probably an older model - it had been unused in the box for at least four years before I made the switch.

unclear to me if this is a defect or just standard for the bag when it is full. How full? Usually a pillow on top and I usually have to put some pressure on it to zip- but I’m not sitting on it or anything too aggressive.

any thoughts on if this is a defect or the mechanism just can’t handle the force?

ChicagoSeminars

I've used mine extensively at full expansion and fully loaded - never have had an issue with it. I do have both an older model and a newer one and I actually like the old model expansion better though - it's pull to expand whereas the new one is push/slide to expand. With pull to expand, there's zero opportunity for self expansion. The newer one I have noticed once where it did self expand, as paterwdb has also noticed.