It's a weird article of faith for OBers that wheelies are bad, but for a huge chunk of travelers they're exactly the right option because their travels are comprised of home to car to airport to plane to taxi to hotel, all on smooth surfaces.
They're the rule for business travelers and (significantly) air crews, and those choices aren't made out of fashion or inertia.
I mean, if you're trekking in Nepal, yeah, it would suck, but it seems like the OB faithful have a one-size-fits-all disdain for the whole category.
Where he discusses luggage carts as an alternative to a wheeled bag. Which is actually pretty sensible, since removing the permanently attached wheels and extending handle from your bag gets you more carrying capacity and, even combined, lower total weight. So maintain capacity at a modest weight increase, or reduce capacity at a higher weight increase. At least he provides an alternative.
They're the rule for business travelers and (significantly) air crews, and those choices aren't made out of fashion or inertia.
I mean, if you're trekking in Nepal, yeah, it would suck, but it seems like the OB faithful have a one-size-fits-all disdain for the whole category.