I would not worry about the chain at all. Whenever my chain hops off, I pedal slowly and shift on the left side, and the chain hops right back on. I've been surprised how many people don't know this that I've ridden with. And the more you get familiar with shifting, the more the chain does what you want it to. I've been riding for years and still manage to lose it from time to time. As far as maintenance, I occasionally stop by my lbs and have them look at it and tell me if I need to do anything. I need to get better at that part but it's never been a problem.