Proper maintenance, setup and cleaning and I've never gad issues.
Probably avg 8 hrs on the trainer each week.

What special cleaning do you do that keeps the headset from rusting out? Do you also not sweat much? (I sweat buckets!)

I'm surprised your sweat reaches the headset.
I use two fans (one is a powerful fan sold for drying paint and indoor cycling, and a cheap one on the other side), sweat bands on wrists and head, and at least two towels, one covering the handlebars. If too hot I use AC, otherwise just open windows. If a long hot session I might have to swap towel mid ride.

I've also used a tacx swear cover in the past, but haven't used it in a long time since the rest of the setup seems sufficient.

It definitely wears the headset bearings out a lot faster, even with towels etc. nothing seems to stop it! I also went through a set of front wheel bearings for the same reason.

I considered a cheap dedicated turbo bike but headset bearings are $30 ish and a 15 min easy job to swap out so I didn't bother. I did get a cheap front wheel instead of using the race wheel.

Yeah, on my Premier Tactical the brake cables run through the headset and bearing so it's a total bear to replace the headset bearings as you have to redo all the internal cable brake routing in front. $200+ every time the LBS does it, not even including the bearing and washer costs.

My sweat rate hovers around 1.5L/hr and up to about 1.75. So moderate to heavey sweater.
I protect the stem cap with a drip guard and a towel.
After the ride I remove the towel and wipe away any moisture from that area.
Leave my two fans running for 30 minutes after my ride to dry things out.

Never an issue

How long are you riding for? I sweat thru a big bath towel in less than 40 mins once I’m going full tilt. At 2-3 hrs it always gets through even by a little.

There are cheap sweat catcher things on amazon. No sweat gets in headset all.

I have a Lasko blower too so I find it surprising you're dripping all over your headset. Put the blower higher off the ground and aim it at your chest so the flow passes unimpeded above the bars.

What drips will be blown back and not hit your headset as much anymore.

Wrap a small tower around the seat tube right above the BB.

I use a towel over the stem and a fresh towel every hour for drying myself, plus fan. Never have an issue with sweat getting on the bike.

I sweat buckets. and buckets.

Headset is good. I remove the stem, and headset to clean and lube on a regular basis. I think the secret is using a good grease, which will repel the sweat for a little while.

Why would you pay someone to replace your headset? It's one of the simplest and cheapest parts to replace on a bike. Just pull the fork and drop it in.

I sweat buckets but I don't have issues either. I cover all open parts with towels but I also wear sweatbands and running hats while on there to catch most sweat. I probably go through about one every 45 mins. I just toss the one I'm wearing on the floor and then put on another one. Limits the amount of sweat that gets onto the towels under me and then I just hang them and use them the next ride. Wash them once a week with the towels.

You didn't read my earlier post. On my bike, the headset not only is sandwiched in a complex way, but also has the internally-routed FB cable running through the center of it. You have to redo the internal cable routing for the FB as well as redo the headset which on my bike is non-standard and not easy to get right. (I've tried it.) My LBS charges me $200+ for it; they only charge like $45 for a typical standard road bike headset bearing replacement. (And I'm providing the bearings, not included in that cost.)

I tried those. I sweat so much it drips onto it, around, it, and then down onto the headset. Even with a towel on it, in a very short time, I'll sweath through the whole towel, and then that sweat goes right around the sweat catcher.

Maybe I have to get my blower to more eye-level;mine's on the ground so I don't think it's blasting the sweat backwards enough off the headset area.

I ride on the trainer 95% of the time with my TT bike and have helped this issue by putting a shower cap over the arm pads and pulling it back over the headset area. I then put a towel over the shower cap.

Sweating buckets despite a big fan sounds like a high temperature situation.

If you can’t train in lower temps, why not just put a piece of plastic over the headset?

Although I suspect a “thong” sweat catcher should do it.

Also, the headband advice is really good. I use a thin buff which I form into a headband. Change it every hour, too.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

I have a Stages SB20, so headset isn't an issue. Sweat corrosion on other parts is an ongoing battle, and I need to take off the covers and do a good clean at some point, but am a little afriad of what I'll find.

I ride around 10k miles a year, most of which is indoors, so taking care of the bike is very important. Prior to getting the Stages bike, I had to replace several things on my regular bike, like the chainset, cassette, and rewax chains on almost a weekly basis. It's nice to not have to worry about those things, and is what led me to getting a specific indoor bike for riding.

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Ha - headbands!

Those are completely useless to me. Once I'm going, I'll saturated it completely in <10 minutes, and <5 minutes on intervals. I actually use a pastic "SweatGUTR" but it's not great for cycling since the sweat tends to go forward on your head anyway, but it's better than nothing.

My garage does get on the warm side; once I'm going, it's like 72F-75F but in summer it can get 80-84F (I need two fans for that.)

I've tried saran wrapping my headset in the past as well, but I don't think I did a good job, as it seemed to make things worse - once I took the saran wrap off there was salt IN the wrap, moreso than without it!

Vaseline the shit out of every bolt and every nook,crack,cable and moving part.
A buff on the head,towel on the bike and a strong fan.

I actually tried to buy one of these SB20s earlier, but I never got it working (electronics fried out the moment I set up despite doing it super carefully) and customer service is literally zero there right now - my credit card company had to refund my entire purchase (Eventually Stages contacted me just to have the bike picked up, not fixed.)

I'm actually pretty happy right now with my old frame on my Kickr. I do agree that it's so much less worry and hassle to have a dedicated trainer bike or similar if you're doing a lot of indoor training, wish I'd set up the separate bike earlier.

Grease is super important.
I use a marine grade grease on almost everything on my bike.
If it's good enough for salt water and boat engines it can handle my sweat.

When you say it didn't matter how many towels you put on top, do you mean on top of each other, or how many you use?
Haven't ever had an issue with corrosion.

I try not to let any specific part get completely saturated as anything additional will drip through. Have a towel specifically just to cover the bars and have another on the top tube for wiping excess sweat from arms and face. Once one part is soaked then move it across to a dryer spot until the whole thing gets saturated, then change.

A 5/6 hour session for me will require usually 2/3 t-shirts/jerseys, 4-6 towels, 2/3 headbands.
A big help was using sweat bands pulled up just below the elbow, which reduces the amount of sweat that gets to the towel over the bars in the first place. This is a great spot also for when in TT position. Headbands are fantastic but also need to be squeezed out every 10 minutes or so.

Oh....and using fans is just cheating :-)

I rusted off a gear and brake line cable so far