Unless you take the pipe foam off and wipe down underneath after every ride this is a really bad idea, its the perfect environment for crevice corrosion, sweat will collect unseen and salt concentrations will increase enough to completely corrode through aluminium and steel frames
My top tip if you have a trainer specific bike is take off the bar tape, and drape a towel over the bars, you can use the towel to wipe down the bike and wash the towel after every session
The real added benefit of indoor training, relative to outdoors, is almost entirely due to heat.
In what way(s)?
Just the benefits of the added stress from heat in general. Namely, heat training is good for hot weather but also cold/normal weather. Some WT teams do 4-6 weeks blocks of this and work with Heat-zones.
That’s what I figured. Heat Training can be beneficial in broad and specific ways. The specific ones (prepping for hot/humid event conditions) are most common from what I have seen. That can extend into general fitness to a degree, but there is a cost as well.
Most common is higher stress load that leads to lower power production numbers. That is true for many people that either choose to train “hot” on purpose or have insufficient cooling for their needs. From what I have seen, there are more benefits to having better cooling unless you are prepping in the 3-4 weeks before a hot event. To each their own, but I am plenty happy with my “excessive” cooling setup and only decrease that for particular events and conditions.
A couple of people mentioned headbands which can work well for sweat management, but I prefer a visor. It manages the sweat and helps prevent the fan from drying out my eyes.
I have two of these that I picked up when doing another order but I’m sure there’s cheaper ones out there.
Embrace the heat, get faster 
Matching entertainment with workout type/intensity is a must for me:
Alternatively and for all type of workouts above: often I play a scenic onboard ride from a cyclist (many on Youtube) with a lenght at least exceeding my planned workout time. I combine that with music that I find nice (for lower intensity workouts) or music that pumps me up for higher intensity workouts (e.g. Smack my bitch up (Prodigy), Break Stuff (Limp Bizkit)).
Not sure I agree with this all the time. A heat acclimation block for a hot race is likely beneficial, but as Coach Chad went through in detail in a pod a while back, heat training doesn’t make you stronger, it makes you better able to perform in the heat. Heat will restrict your overall performance meaning lower power numbers, lower power numbers mean less adaptation, so based on basic training practices, training in the heat will lead to smaller gains in fitness not greater. Now if you ride in the heat all the time because you have no other choice, riding in the heat will make you better in the heat. But Coach Chad also mentioned and Chad mentioned in his reply here, that heat acclimation training is fleeting. It’s only good for a short period, so it’s best to do just before an event rather than all the time.
The manipulations go beyond the simple on/off you seem to be implying. Coaches work with specific heat zones and also focused blocks. Nobody at the highest level trains indoor most of the time. Check the work of Coach Poulton ( Ewan, Hayman).
Does TR need to rewrite this blog post? Year after year I’ve absolutely seen performance gains as the article discusses.
Well, not sure. The first paragraph seems to suggest that keeping your body “cool” with a “cool environment” will increase your capacity and ability to push to new levels. So I’m not sure it’s actually contradictory to what I’m saying.
Heat Training itself does not necessarily mean just “training in the heat.” As I said, it helps your body adapt to performing in the heat. There are mixed studies on whether the acclimation actually increases your capacity to do work in cool environments.
Specifically at 1:37:00. In the first study those testing in the heat showed no improvement over the control group when performing in cool conditions. And then a few minutes later he mentioned a different study that suggested there was some improvement that could be measured even in a cold environment, but perhaps we’re saying similar things with different terminology. Either way, I guess your mileage will vary and it’s all very individual. If you can hit the same power numbers and for the same duration with the same RPE and recover as consistently in the heat than you can in cooler temps than I’m sure it would be helpful.
This article by Dr Stephen Cheung is a good one:
and references a meta-analysis he did with colleagues:
The results section is short and sweet:
“Results: 96 articles were reviewed. The most common duration was 7 – 14 days and the most common method of HA was the controlled work rate approach. HA had a moderate beneficial effect on exercise capacity and performance in the heat irrespective of regimen; however, longer regimens were more effective than shorter approaches. HA had a moderate to large, beneficial effect on lowering core body temperature before and during exercise, maintaining cardiovascular stability, and improving heat loss pathways. Data are limited but HA may reduce oxygen consumption during subsequent exercise, improve glycogen sparing, increase the power output at lactate threshold, reduce lactate concentrations during exercise, have a trivial effect on increasing extra-cellular concentrations of Hsp, and improve perceived ratings of exertion and thermal sensation.”
there are a lot of mays listed in the “Data are limited…” sentence, however before that sentence it is stated that heat adaptations include moderate to large impact on lower core body temp before/during exercise, maintaining cardiovascular stability, and improving heat loss pathways.
Those moderate to large beneficial effects have absolutely resulted in increased power output across my power curve, summer after summer. I train in dry heat. The impact is more noticeable when I go out while its still cool, say in the 70s and low 80s. But even at 90F its easy to see in my HR data the increased stability and I can put out more power even though by the end I’m sweating bullets. That’s been my experience.
the meta-study ends with this:
“Large methodological differences in the HA literature mean that there is still uncertainty regarding the magnitude and time course of potential adaptation for a number of physiological and perceptual variables.”
FWIW it takes several months for me to fully see the benefits. Its another one of those gains, like doing a lot endurance work (which takes even longer), that some might not have the patience to wait for results.
Just in case I’m not remembering it correctly I pulled up some 8-min power numbers from this year - because 8-min is the prescribed length of my threshold intervals. My coach doesn’t have me do a lot of threshold intervals, we do other stuff to accomplish ‘more with less’ if you know what I mean. In other words, we figured out my best responses to different types of intervals, and focus on doing stuff that works.
If I’m feeling good I’ll drop the recovery and keep going. My personal bests this year were all roughly same power and done in temps of (ordered by date):
The last one was this week, and was the only one interrupted by traffic otherwise it would have been higher. But it wasn’t, can only say all of those were within a couple watts. Two of them were extended out to something like 1x20 and 1x32 minutes. All were prescribed by a range of watts, paced by feel (something I could extend out to 20+ min), and HR response was similar in all.
Also FWIW, my best ramp test was 2018 and after a 6 week block of TR SSB-1 training when I was doing weekend 2+ hour rides outside in 100F / 38C heat. And the ramp test was completed in a garage at something like 82F / 28C. With only one Vornado fan.
Hope that helps someone, you may not see same response but I have seen heat training work.
I live in SoCal. It’s hotter outdoors than on my trainer. 
I didn’t realize that was hampering my training, I just figured this isn’t the sport for me. Until last week where I replaced the desk fan I was using with a much bigger fan that I started to complete my workouts.
do NOT use alcohol wipes “to prevent saddle sores”. In fact, don’t use alcohol based soaps, gels, hand wipes etc. (1) it dries out the skin, makes it crack and makes it easier for bacteria to get in (2) change out of your kit as soon as your workout is done (3) wash with plain soap and water. Plenty of studies (usually hospital based, as that population is easy to follow) that have shown using hand sanitizer vs soap and water leads to higher infection rate
Firstly I wish someone had said this to me.
MAKE SURE your lower core and back can handle it, and start gently. I started indoors after only about a year of cycling, with a weak core. So I would be sat at a desk or driving most of the day, then jumping into some zwift event which my body just couldn’t handle. Ended up highlighting then exasperating lower back disc issues ending up with with L5 disc surgery and a lot of complications thereafter. Being on a new bike with a low front end didnt help either.
Ive since worked on my yoga and strength and have made big improvements (if I could stop falling off though !)
The point is - its so easy to overdo it on a trainer.
I’ve tried absolutely everything to get ride of sores with not luck. I wash before and after. Use chamois cream and aquaphor. Soak my bibs for ten min with sports wash pre washing machine three bike fits four saddles, tilted saddle down. It’s definitely worse on trainer but I still get them on the road. I do ride six days a week at about 15 hours a week though. Also four brands of bibs. Including Everesting bibs. Next up some foam mats under the trainer for some give. If not then a rocker plate. Also just bought some hibeclens to try. Even saw a dermatologist. 
The only thing that works for me are chamois creams with menthol. When I switched to a different brand because of COVID shortages I immediately had saddle sores. When I switched back they immediately went away. I recommend the following two:
https://www.amazon.com/Enzos-ButtonHole-Chamois-Cream-8oz/dp/B07C7RDDN8