My winter bike this year is also my general nasty weather, short-distance beater ride. It also served as my only bike for a month a half this summer when the nice bike got crunched and I needed to ride something to work and classes. I pulled it out of the basement a couple of days ago after three weeks without riding it. I added some washers to the axle, cleaned rust off the steel front rim (third front wheel this bike has had in as many months!), adjusted the bearings on the 3-speed hub to the proper tightness. They had been far too tight for the previous three months, since I built the bike up as a 3-speed. Everything appears to be shipshape; in fact, the bike is running better than it ever has. So, as far as the bike goes, I'm ready for the winter. The bike for this year is a Schwinn LeTour III modified with a Sears knock-off of the Sturmey-Archer AW hub and flat bars chopped to 20". It's got fenders and a basic rack, but it is a deliberately minimalist bike, for both maintenance and anti-theft reasons. I just need to buy a basic set of battery-powered lights and I'll be all set.
I still haven't worked out the clothing side of the wet weather equation, though. Cold weather isn't a problem, since I finally got a real winter shell (on clearance earlier this summer!) and have both glove liners and full gloves. Pants aren't really an issue for winter. Snow is no big deal, either. If it gets really bad, I have ski pants. Rain is more problematic. I don't have a good rain jacket, and rain pants for men my size don't really exist (because, you know, men shorter than 5'10" never venture outdoors
). I'd go for women's pants, but don't have $80 to spend right now. I've settled for "get wet, stay warm, look dorky" so far. I wear wind pants - worst garment ever - over running shorts, and a long underwear top under a t-shirt for rain. I get wet, but I don't get cold. I'd really like to resolve the clothing situation to be more to my liking, but I've got a system that seems relatively effective.
I think that I'm going to have a good winter for riding. I'm pretty excited about it!