It all depends on how cold is cold, how damp is damp, how windy is windy, and if you just putt-putt along or if you ride hard. If it's not too cold, not too damp, not too windy, and you don't ride too hard, darned near anything will work. Amp up one or all of them and it's another story entirely.

Going into my first winter, I thought cycling-specific gear was all a bunch of schidt designed to empty your wallet. (I'm certain there are old posts around here from 2006-07 that support that memory.) I'd managed quite comfortably as a pedestrian and bus rider for many, many years here in Upstate NY, and had a good selection of winter outerwear. It was other people who didn't know how to dress.

I froze through my first winter because what I had was far too warm for all the extra activity in cycling. I'd sweat through everything in no time. It didn't vent, it didn't wick, all it did was hold in heat. And I generate just as much of that pedaling in January as I do in July.

Then, being wet in winter's cold, hypothermia would set in. All I remember of that winter is cycling in misery. And that's even before we begin the discussion of how hard it is to pedal with several layers of standard long-johns. The only thing I did right that first year was studded snow tires. And they don't keep you warm and dry.

I started buying cycling-specific gear with the tax return the next spring.

The next year was better, but still required fine-tuning, since I bought cheap, not good. I nailed it in my third winter and have used pretty much the same stuff ever since. The only outerwear I wear when cycling in winter that isn't cycling-specific are my mittens. When it's below 10-12F, I wear snowboarding mittens. Above that I wear a size L summer-weight long-finger MTB glove inside a size XL "cold weather" windproof cycling glove.

My helmet has a winter liner that reduces--but does not eliminate--airflow over my head. I wear a winter-weight skullcap down to the mid-20s before switching to a balaclava.

I have two cycling jackets. One is good to about freezing, the other is lined and takes over from there. I know Vol's question was both sarcastic and rhetorical, but for those who don't know, the gorilla-length sleeves and long tail keep those things from riding up when you lean forward to reach for the bars. The higher neckline keeps drafts from blowing in. For me, the venting in cycling jackets is key. I still sweat, even in February, and that has to be vented somewhere or I get wet. I've ridden down to -4F and still haven't closed my pit zips.

I use mid-weight wind-front tights down to about freezing, then Pearl Izumi AmFibs below that. (PI has changed their model designations. I'm not sure what the current equivalent is.) The keys to tights are

• wind front (because plain ones simply filter the breeze as it passes through),
• articulated knee (plain Peter Pans bunch behind the knee and bind across the front),
• bibs (because tights will slide down and winter plumber's crack is cold), and
• unpadded (to save on laundering them--just wear your favorite shorts as the base layer and launder those instead).

Under the outerwear I'm less picky. I wear ordinary wicking long-sleeve t-shirts. My socks are plain old X-Mart athletic socks. Of course my boots are Lakes. I've never owned a warmer boot, ever, and the Lakes are clipless.