I'm trying to remember why I decided to move up from the base Specialized Sequoia, though I definitely did test-ride it. The specific thing I remember was disliking its shifters, and I might have decided that going for a bike built around not-bottom-end parts (if memory serves, the base Sequoia is mostly Shimano Sora components, the Sequoia Elite is mostly Tiagra) was a better idea too. But, it was a pretty significant cost difference.