It's unlikely that this bike will be the one you'll have for the rest of your life. I'm not a fan of the 700c LHT handling, I had one and replaced it with a 26" wheel LHT. $.02 the 50tooth chainring cranksets with 11tooth cassette is a useless gear for touring but the low gears are all adequate for a strong rider. Likewise I've heard good things about the Sherpa. Your knowledge/skill in maintenance and the mechanic who assembled your bike will render material/performance differences between components somewhat irrelevant.

Any chance you can test ride these?

It sounds like you want a sport-tourer more than a heavy load carrier.