Looking to replace my single speed bike for training and so that I can start racing again in the future. Had the opportunity to try both the RS5 and RS7 for about 30 minutes each at the LBS. They both felt good to ride on, and the RS7 in particular has geometry that's really close to my old Trek Crockett that I used to race on so it feels really familiar.
I would prefer getting the RS7 over the RS5, however, about 20-30% of all my riding happens on gravel. I've included a photo at the bottom just to specify what exactly I mean by "gravel". It's not too rough for the most part, but my main concern is that the seat stays and chain stays won't have enough clearance for the gravel sections. Has anyone ridden their RS7 on similar terrain and is able to comment on it? Never really had to think about this before because both my single speed and old Crockett had a lot of clearance so I was never worried about having a rock getting jammed between the frame and wheel. The RS5 would definitely be fine, but as I've said I would prefer to get the RS7 if I can
Photo of gravel section. https://imgur.com/Zeg31i7
by highfalutinjargon