I look for three things in a roller bag. The bag should be easy to handle, easy to pack and be as light as possible. Osprey has tacked the weight issue head on with their new Ozone line of roller bags, and they score on handling and packability, too.

The bag comes in three sizes: an 18-inch (backpack size), a 22-inch (maximum carry-on size), and a 28-inch (you'll have to check this one, fliers). I tested the 18-inch bag for four days of late summer travel.

The bag holds it shape well enough when you're packing it and it held almost everything I needed. I could not get a second pair of shoes in without sacrificing something else. I'm not a heavy traveler and most of the items I packed were for summer weather, so if you decide to go with this bag as your carry-on travel bag, get the 22-inch version. The interior is lined with mesh pockets so there are good places to stow your odds and ends, your cables and gadgets – that kind of thing. There are two exterior pockets on the front for stuff you need access to, like your bag of three-ounce liquids, for example. And there's an external pocket on the back of the bag that was the perfect size to hold my netbook. Compression straps cinch everything down when you've closed the bag, so it's a very neat little piece of luggage. That's a nice feature in a soft-sided bag.

A single telescoping handle runs down the center of the back of the bag, but it's easy to pack around. And the bag handles very nicely, the hardware is smooth and everything works well. Part of the ease of handling is, I'm sure, in the barebones weight – it's much easier to wheel around a bag that's half the weight of your typical denier fabric roll-aboard.

Filed under: Gadling Gear Review