During the winter months I use my road bike on my trainer. I have a fan and have the setup near a window for decent cooling but I still sweat more then I do on my outside rides. I cover the bike with a towel to protect the bike from sweat but still notice damp spots and drops on the bike from time to time.
I have begun cleaning the bike with a damp cloth after each use and sometimes rubbing alcohol.
I would at least spray it down with water once or week or so to make sure your dissolving away all that salt. I think something as simple as just spraying it down with a water bottle or two of water would be enough.
Another option is to use ācockpit wipesā like Armorall wipes to give a bit more thorough wipe down.
And change your handlebar tape, that stuff gets nasty.
Using neat IPA might eventually start to degrade the clearcoat - donāt hold me to that though.
To be honest, Iām pretty sure DCRainmaker touched on this having never used anything to protect a bike nor experienced any issues as a result.
If you were concerned though then Iād use a synthetic sealant that you would on a car (or a natural wax - just itās more time consuming to apply). A synthetic sealant (AutoGlym Extra Gloss Protection for example) is just a case of wiping on, leaving to dry and then buffing off.
Water & sweat should bead off and in the general course of cleaning & drying itāll be quicker too. It feels super slippery too not to mention makes it shiny & glossy
Iām a bike mechanic and from my experience Iād say PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE wipe your bike down and give it a proper clean every now and then. If your bike sits on the turbo all winter, then perhaps every 6 weeks just loosen your stem bolts and take your headset apart, give it a clean and regrease, and put it back together. Or use a proper sweatguard.
Iāve had to declare forks as a write off due to the effects of salt damage around the steerer tubes, and when you have to use a mallet to remove a fork from a frame because its so well stuck in there, itās not very pleasant.
I guess it depends on your personal sweat/salt content, but it can get real nasty in there!
I have a bunch of hand towels that I use for each ride. I fold one over the handlebars during the ride. Sweat runs down my arms and onto the towel mostly and I can use the towel to wipe my face when needed. This catches 90% of the sweat I would guess, the rest drips on the floor or on the top tube. After the ride, I use the towel just to give the seat, top tube and handlebars a quick wipe. Every 2 weeks Iāll give the bike a proper wash.
+1 Baby wipes. Just make sure when you buy the massive bulk pack, you get the NON-SCENTED ones!
Also, if you want to make the clearcoat look nice & shiny before any event, a small spray of WD40 onto paper towel and wipe the frame all over - gives it a nice showroom condition shine.
Make sure you donāt get it on your brake track/discs/pads though!
I have a dedicated trainer bike based on a steel frame from the late '70s, so I am concerned about this. I have a spray bottle of camellia oil, which is used by Japanese woodworkers to prevent rust on their cutting tools. I know the bike shop uses Boesheild T9 to clean bikes.
WD-40 should be used with caution on certain plastics. At my company we use it to get the machines shiny for trade shows (Iām not inte cycling industry). After a few trade shows the plastic will be really brittle.
Edit: I donāt know which plastics are typically used on bikes/bike parts. WD-40 is hydrocarbon based and is destructive to PC and PS in particular. These are cheap materials and I doubt that they are used widely on bikes. But itās something to be aware of.
Personally, I looked up automotive clearcoats and the general consensus I could find from āthe internetā (code: not actual paint experts) was that it was fine. On that basis, I did a spot trial and have now been doing it for about 5-6 years on both my current frame and my previous frame - with no apparent ill effects.
Also, I donāt do it that frequently - only a couple of times a month. The amount that goes on is also VERY minimalā¦ itās not like I spray the whole bike with the stuff then wipe it down. Literally, a small spray on a square of paper towel will do the whole bike.
However, iām no paint/clearcoat expert. As the TR crew would say, āthis is just my experienceā.
I was going to say the same thing. Good Olā 1980ās style sweatbands reduced the amount of sweat reaching the bike by probably 80% or more. Most notably sweat coming from my head. Plus they are dirt cheap on amazon and tons of colors to choose from.