Carry-on luggage is as much part of the savvy traveler’s life as making people jealous of their exploits on Facebook or Instagram.
There’s a bag or case for all tastes. They come with wheels, without wheels, with phone chargers, without phone chargers, large, too large, small, too small.
Bags abound.
One aspect most bag manufacturers get stuck at, is the wheel size of their bags.
They’re all small.
Not one designer has ever sat down and thought, “Hmm, what if I enlarge our carry bag’s wheels and make life so much easier for a lot of travelers and put more smiles on their faces and generally be a cool guy who obtains the respect of his colleagues.”
It’s like there’s a baggage police department that’s prohibiting luggage creators from being smart.
“We’re sorry, but your wheels exceed the maximum diameter and so we cannot allow you to put these bags into production. It’ll cause too much happiness at airports and that’ll bring about a bullish market, which we’re trying to prevent at all costs. We can’t have people who don’t get their baggage wheels stuck or their bags not toppling over. Your products are dangerous.”
There’s one company that’s decided to buck the trend and build a carry on bag with wheels so large they look like saucers.
It’s called the G-RO. It’s pronounced Gee-ro; almost like gyro.
It’s a beautiful bag; like something out of a Tron movie. You expect ads for this bag to feature white catsuit clad people, oozing confidence, striding along fluorescent lit corridors with their G-ROs tagging behind.
Let’s take a closer look at G-RO.
The wheels
The outstanding feature of the G-RO is the bag’s huge wheels.
Their wheels are more than 200 mm in diameter. Compared to Rollerblade-size wheels (the choice for many luggage manufacturers), with a diameter of 110 mm, these are humongous.
What are the benefits of large wheels?
Feels lighter
G-RO’s large wheels cause the center of gravity of the bag to be closer to its rotation axis.
This gives the bag a greater level of balance, which makes it feel light when you pull or push it.
All terrain
Because the wheels are so large, it’s possible to maneuver the bag over terrain other bags won’t handle.
Haul your bag
- over:
- grass,
- gravel,
- cobblestone,
- ice,
- a pickpocket’s face;
- through snow;
- up a flight of stairs;
- down a flight of stairs.
You won’t have to lift your G-RO bag, as you would need to do with other luggage bags.
Lightweight
You’d think that putting larger wheels on a carry-on bag makes it much heavier.
That’s not the case with the G-RO.
The bag weighs in at roughly 3.6 kgs (7.9 lbs). According to Susan Feinstein, quoted in Consumer Reports, “A lightweight, wheeled carry-on-size bag will be 7.5 pounds or less…”
The G-RO is only 0.4 lbs heavier than Miss Feinstein’s recommendation. That’s a small price to pay for this type of functionality.
Unobtrusive
The beauty of G-RO’s large wheels are that they are not in the way. You don’t sacrifice space for better control.
Some of these carry-on bags have wheels that create obtrusive indentations on the inside of the luggage bag.
The G-RO’s wheels are attached to the side of the bag, out of the way.
They could have stopped there. Putting these wheels on a luggage bag makes it superior other carry-on bags.
But they did more.
Packing space
The G-RO carry-on bag has a 40L capacity. That’s a lot of liquid, 40 liters. The G-RO is on par with most other carry-on luggage bags.
The G-RO is well within spec, and even offers better volume than two of the carry-on bags listed.
Handling
The G-RO carry-on bag contains a telescopic carry handle made from aircraft grade aluminium. It gives you six inches more reach than industry standard.
The handle offers four lockable positions, making it easy for a person of any height to haul their baggage around.
Size
Although the G-RO gives you plenty of space to pack your personal and business belongings, it’s not too large to pass as a carry-on.
The G-RO meets TSA, FAA and international flight requirements for carry-on luggage.
Material
The G-RO’s body is made from Cordura ballistic nylon and mold-injected aerospace-grade polymers.
Sounds like a bulletproof vest.
Their bag is as indestructible as a carry-on luggage bag can be.
Zippers are high quality YKK brand.
Water not welcome
The G-RO bag has an arched belly design which allows for minimal ground contact.
To further protect your bag, the G-RO has a protective plastic panel hugging the bottom of the case. This keeps out water.
Water welcome
You’re trying to keep liquids from entering your carry-on luggage.
Yet, there may be times when you need to carry liquids with you. If that’s the case, the G-RO has you covered.
The G-RO has a compartment designed to be waterproof, so as not to spill liquid that’s contained inside it.
Work space, personal space
The G-RO contains two main compartments.
There’s an inside compartment for storing private things and an external compartment for storing business stuff.
You won’t be pulling out a pair of briefs when you reach for your laptop. (That would be super embarrassing in most business meetings.)
Charge on the go
The G-RO guys offer buyers an optional electronic module.
This module lets you charge anything that charges via USB.
The charging module also allows for you to store a small charging cable.
Electronic module specs
The electronic module contains a 23,000mAh battery, two USB ports, one universal power outlet (for three prong laptop plugs), a location tracker and a proximity detector.
The G-RO lets you charge your smartphone, tablet and laptop all at once.
The electronic module lets you track the location of your G-RO with the help of GSM-GPRS technology.
For proximity detection it uses Bluetooth Smart / Bluetooth Low Energy technology.
Final thoughts
I don’t know what else to say but, “Wow.”
The G-RO promises to be one amazing carry-on bag.
It’s packed with everything you need to make travelling as much of a joy as can be.
If you’re interested in this amazing piece of carry-on luggage, visit the G-RO website for more information.