well the weather here in ireland is seriously bad lots of snow and ice,we are not used to those extreams of weather.anyway i tryed a different approach today on the layering system,next to skin i wore my assos base layer, over that just an ordanery t shirt cotton and your run of the mill jersey, topped off with fleec lined nylon jacket, it worked great now i wasen't cycling i was walking. for cycling .im going to try the assos base layer then the merino long sleeve base layer plus a cycling jersey, outer will be my rain jacket.really what i want is to stay comfy until i can change into normal cloth's.as i said the merino is great but not next to skin .thanks for all the advice folks much appreaciated.