I've never biked in the winter before, but my fiancee called me a chicken and I live in Iowa... so yeah...
Anyway, I've got a Trek 7200 (2005?) frame with some of the original parts and a couple of 700C wheels that I'm going to try to winterize. It looks like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6809917...in/photostream

Where to go from here? I figured that, starting out, first to go would be the fork and stem. The front suspension is nigh useless even in good conditions and heavy to boot (ditto with the suspension-fitted seatpost). I think that, ultimately, the rear cassette (7-speed) will be replaced with a fixed gear, while retaining the front derailleur and chainrings (3-speed). But yeah, other than that, what to do? Where should (limited) money go? Any suggestions?

A couple things that must always be kept in mind: in Iowa, the winters are unpredictable on an hour-hour basis. What was sludge in the morning could be several feet of snow by lunch and then frozen by lunch 2. Also, where I live features some fairly spectacular hills (not mountains, but hey, there's a river running through here), so whether this is something that should be taken into consideration during the build or if it's a matter of technique, I'm still too green to know.

Suggestions, castigations, general help is very much appreciated!