Bikes on trainers need maintenance too

I've had a Trek Madone on a smart trainer for a year now, I know this because my Rouvy subscription just renewed. Lately it has been shifting poorly and the drive train has become very noisy. I cleaned the chain, but it only helped a bit.

Eventually it occurred to me that I couldn't remember the last time I replaced the chain. I've ridden about six thousand miles on it while it was on the trainer, and I had quite a few miles on the chain before that. I grabbed my Parks chain wear tester and WOW the chain was toast! You're supposed to replace the chain when it reaches 0.75 wear. This chain was at 1.0 and the tool still wasn't tight in the chain.

I had always assumed that an indoor trainer would not wear out a drive train as quickly because there's no road grime getting up into the mech. It seems it wears just as quickly inside as outside.

The chain was so bad I checked the cassette and found it was badly worn too. The chainrings seem OK for now.

So I bought a new chain and cassette from Amazon for a total of $80 (love Shimano) and installed them last night. I couldn't find my Shimano cassette tool (I think its in a shed under six feet of snow) so I bought a new one. The shifting is now silky smooth and the drive train is much quieter. I must remember to monitor the chain for wear.

One of the SPD pedals was very squeaky so I replaced them with an old pair from one of my (stuff-which-is-used-but-might-be-useful-one-day) drawers which solved the problem temporarily. I ordered new ones from Amazon (only $42). When they arrive I'll install them.

So with the chain, cassette, cassette tool, and pedals I have spent about $150 on my trainer bike which is about the same as my annual Rouvy subscription. The total I've spent on the trainer bike for a year of usage is about $300. I spend about 400 hours a year on the trainer. Sounds like a good deal to me.

I live at the top of a mountain and no local roads are suitable for bicycle riding. If I add up all the money I spend on riding outside, including maintenance, gas costs, wear and tear on my car, I spend quite a bit more riding about the same distance on the road.

I have the indoor trainer setup for convenience more than anything, but it turns out it saves money as well.