Here's the problem. My commute in the winter is already about 10 to 15 minutes longer just because of the cold, studded tires, and road conditions. It also takes me about twice as long to get dressed and undressed.

And for me lubing takes more than a few minutes simply because I have no room to work on the bike unless I pull the car out of the garage. We have a small house with very little storage. All the outdoor goodies like those fun but not very compact inflatable sliding tubes get kept in the garage. All I ask for from my family is a clear path from where I keep my bike to the door and that's about all I get.

In the summer I'll often do my maintenance work outdoors but during the winter it's too dark. Aside from the lack of space, it's not much warmer in the garage than it is outside. That means single digits or colder a lot of the time. Not great conditions for applying lube. I'll do it, but honestly, time is one of the most precious things to me and I'd rather not spend any more time lubing the chain than I already do. I'd really like not to have to worry about it all.

And while the chain is the thing most visibly affected by the exposure to road salt, it is far from the only thing. I've had some real problems with corrosion on the brakes. 5 minutes lubing the chain each week will do nothing for that. So my new build is going to have roller brakes on the rear and a disk brake up front. Hopefully that will help.