Inventing the Wheels
For the first few decades after the invention of the suitcase, the wheel was nowhere to be found. It was only in the 1970s that the wheel was first attached to the suitcase. Bernard Sadow, then vice president of the travel company US Luggage, attached four spinner wheels to the bottom of a suitcase and slapped on a pulling strap. In 1987, an airline pilot named Robert Plath reinvented the suitcase wheel,attaching two in-line wheels to the bottom of his luggage. Within a few years, he started Travelpro International to manufacture and sell his new suitcase.
The in-line wheel might be a newer invention than the spinner wheel, but the jury is still out when it comes to superiority. There are some pros and cons to each design, and a lot of it comes down to personal needs and preferences.
Inline
Inline wheels are the vanilla ice cream of suitcase features. You can’t really go wrong with them—you know exactly what to expect.There’s a reason the inline wheel is most common. It does the job and it does it well. Most people just need a suitcase that they can haul from point A to B. The simple design of these wheels means they’re more durable, too. While every suitcase will start to wear out after a lot of use, inline wheels are likely to last longer than spinner wheels.
If your needs are basic and you just want something reliable, inline wheels are the way to go.
Spinner
If you’ve ever spent much time outside of the United States, you may have noticed that shopping carts in some countries spin on all four wheels instead of only the front two. If you’re American, you likely found this a bit annoying at first because you’re so used to the back wheels being inline. After a little while, though, you probably realized these carts are a lot of fun and are really easy to maneuver around in-store obstacles.
Suitcase spinner wheels are similar to these gliding shopping carts. You wouldn’t think much of them if you’re used to inline wheels, but they’ll grow on you if you give them a chance. You can pull them behind you just like an inline wheel suitcase, but they have a bit more versatility in other cases. When you’re slowly shuffling through a line, you can leave it upright and just nudge it every time you move. When boarding a flight, you can turn it sideways and push it down the aisle in front of you. Depending on how sturdy the bag is, you can sometimes set another bag on top and push a little tower in front of you. The extra wheels may seem unnecessary to some, but they’re really useful for some situations.
One thing to watch out for, though, is durability. Inline wheels have a simpler, sturdier design and are less likely to fail over time. Spinner wheels, on the other hand, are more prone to wear and tear. It’s not super common, but the handle-side wheels on some spinner suitcases can wear out pretty quickly if you’re a heavy packer.
Winner: Both!
Honestly,either wheel will get the job done for most people. When it comes to pulling the trigger on buying a new suitcase set, the wheel type probably won’t be a deal breaker. Keep your preference in mind if you have one, but its better to filter for other factors like shell material and durability.