Originally Posted by
shelbyfv
Just looking quickly at geometry for the 56, the Sequoia seems pretty stretched out. Also a high bb, which to me makes it more difficult to get on and off.
The Sequoia is definitely long and low for a gravel/light touring bike, and Specialized I think recognizes this which is why they spec it with their 'hover' bars which add 15 mm of stack. I imagine this allowed them to improve the geometry in other ways, for example the first thing that jumps out at me is much better standover compared to a lot of other gravel type bikes.
To the OP, I think your decision comes down to whether you want to do some bikepacking or light touring which the Sequoia will be better for. I wouldn't worry too much about the weight, 3-4 pounds sounds like a lot but if you run the numbers it doesn't actually affect things all that much. You can play with some calculators around the web, but for example on a 5%, 5 km gradient you are only 18 seconds slower by adding 2 kg (Can't post links but I like the analyticcycling calculator). I've read the stock Sequoia wheels are very heavy so you can probably drop a pound or so off the bike by upgrading the wheels.