I ride on average 5K miles per year on my different bikes and go 2 seasons per chain. Keep em clean, lubed, and check for "stretch" (really excessive wear on the rollers) after every ride. Also, I ride campy and only buy Campy and/or Connex chains. I also keep the grinding on the pedals going uphill to a minimum by always staying in the saddle...I ride a triple and do 30% of my riding on mountain pass roads here in Colorado.