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.
What the?
Ten years indoor training, never seen any corrosion. I’m a heavy, salty sweater.
Must be those no gloves riders.
I do, for a bit of comfort and sweat control.
Always for me. It’s more comfortable.
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.
It is just that bit of extra comfort. As I have aged there is zero fat on my hands
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.