Read the article I shared above and more on “galvanic corrosion” to learn what can happen from our sweat.
And the sweat aspect is not always solvable per comments above. Then we have cases of people taking up heat adaptation training where the process leads to prolific sweat production.
I usually use hand towels and fold them to keep them from flapping around with the lasko fan. I have my fan just below the tv though so it’s a bit more of a ‘straight shot’ than a fan on the ground.
I never wore gloves. I hated them and convinced myself that I couldn’t feel my bars or bike when I wore them, and that I was more comfortable without them. I rode this way for few decades.
Then I woke up one morning last year with really bad Paresthesia (pins and needles) in one of my hands, and couldn’t button my shirt or tie my shoes. Decades of riding left me with severe cyclist’s palsy and carpal tunnel. While the nerve trauma in my hand undoubtedly was cumulative, it felt like the onset was very sudden and I literally woke up unable to use fingers. It didn’t go away, I couldn’t do things like squeeze my brake lever, and I ultimately had to have surgery on my wrist before I could use my fingers again. I now can use my fingers, but I can still feel the nerve deficit and tend to drop things pretty frequently. I now wear padded cycling gloves all the time, both indoors and outdoors. I have a few pair, so I always have clean ones to wear.
Apart for the health/safety-related issues, one benefit i discovered is that the bars and tape on my bike don’t get sweaty or salty, and don’t need to be replaced nearly as often.
It’s a good idea to always wear gloves with decent padding over the ulnar and median nerves of your hands, inside and outside. It is just as important inside, where you tend to be more static on your bicycle and less apt to change hand positions.
I’ve been on many bikes over the years — road bikes, track bikes, MTB’s and now gravel bikes. Several of my road bikes had custom frames that were built for me by people who are known and respected. My fit has never been the issue and has not materially changed over the years. My sense is that my wrist condition was caused by what amounts to repetitive use and low-grade trauma over 30 years of riding, and may have been compounded by other things like typing. Gloves certainly help.
I’m always amazed that there are people out there that don’t sweat like I do. How do you keep from spontaneously combusting?
I used to ride with arm bands, write bands, a headband, 3 fans, and a large Tacx bike towel. Even now, with 7 fans, I can leave puddles on the floor.
I used to double wrap trainer bars, but have never had a set fail so I just use the fans, double wrap (or not) and try to remember to pull off the skanky wrap every year or so and replace it. (And I’ve had some REALLY skanky sick contagious bar wrap! It’s amazing what that stuff can hold/hide. I really loved the Specialized Roubaix tape because it was kinda thick, but it was also like a sponge (literally) and absorbed so much sweat and just trapped it there! )
Did not read all the replies, but one thing we did at the bike shop I worked at was to carefully wrap the bars with electrical tape, which effectively seals them. If it’s a bike that you only use on the trainer, you could probably get away with some cheap carbon bars which are not affected by sweat.
Closed cell foam bar tape (just about any padded tape) and the bars finish paint largely would do the same thing as wrapping the bars, so it’s completely redundant. You’d still have the bar exposed at the shifters and bar internals. You’re better off just considering your bars wear items and replacing every 5-10 years.