This New Hybrid Carry-On From Peak Design Reimagines Luggage

I was quickly won over by the Roller Pro’s unique, soft-yet-structured look: This hybrid suitcase pairs a polycarbonate core with a weatherproof, heavy-duty 550-denier fabric exterior that feels almost like rubbery canvas.

A drawbridge-like opening, gear loops, and other unique details make this durable, weatherproof bag stand out. But it’s very pricey, and when it’s packed to capacity, it can be frustrating to use.

The details look automobile-inspired: The handles, zipper pulls, and gear loops are made of sturdy, sheeny material reminiscent of a seat belt, and the interior is made with compression-molded felt that’s akin to the lining of a car’s trunk. The light gray interior and wrinkle-less felt bottom also make it easy to see and find smaller items that can get lost against a dark lining.

It’s impressive that a suitcase with this many loops, cords, zippers, compartments, and materials manages to look this streamlined. But it does, in part because of the plethora of color-matched details inside and out.

While I haven’t long-term tested the suitcase, I suspect it will also remain good-looking (though I’m curious about how the light color will wear over time). The soft exterior is unlikely to scuff the way the exteriors of hard-sided suitcases do. And the unobtrusive bumper rails on the back have so far done a good job of protecting the suitcase’s underside from getting scratched after banging up and down stairs.

The carry-on feels good rolling by your side — it’s well balanced, and the 360-degree spinner wheels roll smoothly. And at the bag’s most vulnerable points, weatherproof zips offer protection against rain (not a common feature on standard suitcases). The bag also has four handles (instead of the usual two to three), so you can pull it from any side or even carry it like a tray.

The Roller Pro’s extremely thin, carbon-fiber trolley rails replace the thicker telescoping rails found in most bags, and they’re among the Roller Pro’s big selling points. They’re also shorter than most trolley rails I’ve encountered, but they still worked for our 6-foot-2 luggage expert, writer Kit Dillon.

While the trolley rails do look sleek, I felt a lot of resistance when pushing and pulling them from the higher of the two stop heights. (Peak Design told me this was a known error in some pre-production units and that it would be fixed.) Flatter rails make for a somewhat more pleasant interior packing experience, but ultimately I’m not sure how much space they actually freed up in the bag.