Last winter was my first time bike commuting and it actually wasn't bad at all. I put some fenders on my old beater road bike and it was perfect, kept all of the slush and grime off of my legs and backside. There was no need for special tires or any of that stuff in my case, since I bike on city roads. I never did figure out a good solution to cold hands, opting to buy 40-packs of HotHands hand warmers and shoving a pair into the tips of my outer mittens before each ride. I am looking into battery-powered gloves at this point, 0 - 15 degrees fahrenheit is too cold to bike in without something substantial.