I have a 24 speed and I've never had a problem with my gears (and I bike through the Winter). I think sometimes the maintenance required to maintain a geared bike gets fairly overblown (especially by people listing the pros of getting a single speed bike). I suppose it does add an element that could go wrong but at least for me it never does.

Heck when I was younger I rode an 18 speed mountain bike for years (until the frame broke at one of the welds). The gears were still working perfectly .