Touring - Specialized Sequoia - is it any good for loaded touring?

[NOTE: This was initially posted on the "road cycling" forum. I'm hpoing that I might get some more responses here. Thanks, Tom].

I am thinking of retiring my 12 y.o. Gemini Randonneur and buying a Sequoia - probably one of the models with Carbon seat stays. Most of my riding is urban commuting, but I also get out for 5-or-so hour rides on the weekend and, every once in a while, load up the bike and head off for a few weeks,doing 150-200km per day. I run front (low-rider) and rear panniers. If I buy the Sequoia, I will probably convert the rear gears an 11-34 Deore LX set-up for touring, giving me a 30-to-34 lowest gear.

I have heard the Sequoia described as a "lite" touring bike. Has anyone had any experience of loaded touring with the bike. If so, how has it performed?

[NOTE: This was initially posted on the "road cycling" forum. I'm hpoing that I might get some more responses here. Thanks, Tom].

I am thinking of retiring my 12 y.o. Gemini Randonneur and buying a Sequoia - probably one of the models with Carbon seat stays. Most of my riding is urban commuting, but I also get out for 5-or-so hour rides on the weekend and, every once in a while, load up the bike and head off for a few weeks,doing 150-200km per day. I run front (low-rider) and rear panniers. If I buy the Sequoia, I will probably convert the rear gears an 11-34 Deore LX set-up for touring, giving me a 30-to-34 lowest gear.

I have heard the Sequoia described as a "lite" touring bike. Has anyone had any experience of loaded touring with the bike. If so, how has it performed?

This will not answer your question, but I must say I was amazed yesterday when I got my Sequoia up to 36.2 mph on the flats. They are incredibly comfortable, and can even hang with the expensive, light bikes like my Roubaix Pro.

I have a 2005 Sequoia. Front chainrings 52x42x32with rear cassett 12x25. Some experts might say that the 32 - 25 gear combination is to high for loaded touring. I see the 2006 models now have a compact cranck 50x39x30 with 12x27 cassett getting the gear inches into the 20's.

A couple things.
First, if I were forced to choose a current production aluminum bike (I prefer steel) for light (under 25 lbs) touring, the Sequoia would be my top choice. I just test drove one and it was a very comfortable ride. I would not have guessed it was aluminum. It really demonstrates the point that ride characteristics have more to do with geometry than materials.
Second, with a 50 or 52 tooth front chainring, you won't have much use for an 11 tooth rear cog made to go with a 44t chainring on a mountain bike. I'd consider a 13-34 cyclotourist cassette from Harris Cyclery. That will keep your cog sizes closer and shifting crisper all through the range.

I don't care what kind of bike it is. I prefer to get loaded after I'm done touring.

But YMMV.

I've had a 2003 Sequoia and loved all 7800 miles I put on it. I took a couple of weekend trips this summer which I would probably classify as "lightly loaded". Medium panniers on the rear and nothing on the front except a handlebar bag with a pretty good load. The bike seemed rock solid, but I could tell on a couple of fast turns that I had the handlebar bag on it. Not quite as nimble in the corners. I could tell a big difference as my wife collected additional "stuff" to put in it, so I'm not sure how front panniers would have made it behave with a full load on the front.

I've not encountered anything where the 32-25 combination wasn't sufficient. Our Ozark hills are sometimes pretty steep, but as I said, my loads have not been extremely great.

I think the Specialized Sequoia would be just about fine (or better) for ANYTHING! It is a well balanced, comfortable, well designed, and well constructed BARGAIN, IMHO. If I were buying a factory DF bike, the Sequoia would be high on my list.