Rick Onanian wrote:
Am I the only one who'd rather spend $25 on a new chain once every
couple years, and a new cassette every other chain, than spend an
hour cleaning my chain for every 2 hours I spend riding?

A couple of years it's not, but you are not the only such person. I get
cheaper chains (more like $10 in your money) and more awkwardly obtained
cassettes, so I follow the 12 1/16" recommendation and aim to get three or
four chains to a cassette, but life's too short to do any more than oil
them when they squeak.
--
David Damerell Kill the tomato!