I life the convenience of wheels but I'm afraid they will come off with usage over a lot of the cobblestone streets. Does anyone have experience with a brand that may be good or should I try to use a travel backpack?
Posted by
SE Pennsylvania
2381 posts
The surfaces in Portugal are often stone, but not what you would call cobblestone. Mostly 2" stone squares and fairly flat. No issue for wheeled suitcases.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11180 posts
We have 2 wheel Travel-pro and are quite happy
Posted by
269 posts
We had two different types of wheeled luggage in Portugal, a new suitcase with 4 little wheels that were partially destroyed and an older suitcase with 2 large "rollerblade" types wheels that showed no damage other than normal wear and tear from several years of travel.
Posted by
Washington DC
27132 posts
Cobblestones will probably eventually wreck the wheels on inexpensive luggage, especially spinner wheels. However, mine lasted until Day 91 of use, when the first wheel died. I rotated the wheels and the second wheel died on about Day 120, at which point I had to discard the suitcase because the other two wheels couldn't be moved to the back of the suitcase. I virtually always walk between the train station and my hotel, so I had probably rolled that suitcase over about 40 miles of various surfaces. And it was a very inexpensive suitcase with single wheels, not the double wheels used on most spinner bags now. And I always have to check my bag, because it's always at least 24". If an airline slightly tweaks the frame of a bag, the wheels will be misaligned and prone to early failure; that's not a risk you face if you are a carry-on traveler. My bag whose wheels died was also rather heavy (certainly over 30 lb., quite possibly over 35 lb.), which definitely puts more stress on wheels being rolled over uneven surfaces.
A better-quality bag will probably have better, sturdier wheels. If you have a choice, larger wheels deal better with uneven surfaces; I'm not sure there's much variation in the size of spinner wheels, though. I don't think there's much value in pointing out that wheels on two-wheeled bags are usually larger and sturdier and have fewer points of failure, because the market has spoken and it's hard to find a bag with only two wheels now.
Posted by
Freedonia
15023 posts
I have used a spinner for the last three years of full time travel. I have taken it over all types of terrain except perhaps dirt roads.
No problems.
If you decide to go with a spinner, I would suggesting spending more for a better quality bag with eight wheels rather than four.
Each corner should look like this:
Posted by
OP
Southern MD
16 posts
Thanks!
My carry-on meets international standards and I won't dare to pack more than 22 lbs in it. It has good wheels but I was afraid they were going ro break when we were bouncing down cobblestone streets and since it's a pricey Briggs and Riley, I thought I might get a lesser expensive one. I did try a TravelPro but it wasn't within the size limit for international travel.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11180 posts
My carry-on meets international standards and I won't dare to pack more than 22 lbs in it. It has good wheels but I was afraid they were going to break when we were bouncing down cobblestone streets and since it's a pricey Briggs and Riley, I thought I might get a lesser expensive one
If the B & R cannot stand up to cobblestones, I doubt a lesser priced one is the solution