Rimowa Topas Titanium Cabin Trolley – A Review

The Rimowa Topas Titanium Cabin Trolley is an unique suitcase that is both user friendly, and also user “unfriendly”.
It’s like the “Angels and Demons” of carry-ons.
I’ve learned to cope with its shortcomings because its elegant design makes you forget about the usability flaws.

The Rimowa Topas Titanium Cabin Trolley is definitely one of my favorite suitcases.

The model that I have is the 2 wheeler.
Currently, there are no 2 wheelers on Rimowa’s website so they probably got discontinued.
The current model of the Cabin Trolley is a 4 wheeler so if what you want is the 2 wheeler, better snatch one up if you come across one.

Rimowa Topas Titanium Cabin Trolley

A Reliable Carry-on with Killer Looks

Size

The Cabin Trolley is a carry-on size.

I measured it up:

52cm x 39cm x 18cm (20 x 15 x 7 inches)

It clears the airline carry-on requirements with flying colors.

As you can see from the pictures, it is one size smaller than a regular 22 inch size suitcase.
Handling is easier because of the smaller size.

Design

In terms of design, this is my favorite suitcase.

Simple but elegant.
It’s gold but very classy gold.

The name has “Titanium” in it but it’s made out of aluminum.
Maybe that’s the reason it was sold in Japan as “Topas Premium”.

The legs on the Rimowa 2 wheel models are one of the best.

It’s super stable and almost impossible to tip over.
It’s never tipped over before on the train even when I’m not holding on to it.

Wheel sound

BAD!!!!!

The wheel sound on a Rimowa is horrible.
On a slick surface it’s fine but other than that, it’s super noisy.

I suspect that it’s because the wheels are hard and the body is made out of aluminum.
So it doesn’t absorb the vibration as much as a plastic suitcase.

It’s so noisy that you really want to pick it up and carry it because you’ll be bothering everyone else around you.

Luckily, you can easily take off the wheels with a hex wrench.
Swapping the stock wheels out for rollerblade wheels is a must do fix.

Weight

It’s heavier that the plastic Salsa models but it’s still light.

Outer pocket

BAD!!!!!

There are no outer pockets!

From a usability perspective, outer pockets are very helpful.
When you’re carrying a laptop in the suitcase, you’ll have to open it every time at the airport security gate.
Forget about quickly pulling out a book from the outer pocket when you’re on the train or waiting at the boarding gate.

Luckily, the suitcase is really easy to open and close.
With the Topas, you can open the suitcase by flipping open 2 levers so it’s very easy.

Handle

The handle is OK.
It’s long so that’s good, but the handle grip is average.

The handle grip on the model that I own is an older type and the design of the grip on the newer models like the Stealth have a different design.
The new handle grip is curved so that when the handle is collapsed, it fits better with the over all design.
The grip is bigger because of this and I felt that it was harder to hold on to.
When I bought this suitcase, I specifically searched for one with the older handle.

Main compartment

The main compartment on the Topas is nothing flashy.
The only thing worth noting is that its got dividers, which I don’t use too much.

Summary

The Rimowa Topas Titanium Cabin Trolley is not a perfect suitcase.

However, not too many suitcases cover the following important points:

• super cool design
• compact size for easy carry-on
• super stable (it won’t tip over)

In addition, because Rimowa discontinued the 2 wheel models, this suitcase is even more special to me.

I’m not selling this baby!

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