Tonight was my first test of the new bike in the rain... full coverage fenders are the only way to go, I waterproofed my spd shoes last night, and rarely leave home without my rain gear packed... and installed Kool Stops when I built up the bike.

Since it was cool today I wore my waterproof shell jacket over it's base fleece so was dry and toasty when the temps dropped and the rain started falling.

Another thing I like in a commuter / rain bike is a comfortable ride and the ability to roll through bumps and potholes as when it is raining it gets harder to know if it that puddle is hiding a bike swallowing crevasse.

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, but I haven't been on BF for a couple of days. Anyways, I put clear scotch tape over the helmet vents. It did a good job of keeping the rain out, but my head was pretty wet from sweat since the only vents that weren't covered were the ones in the back. I had read on here that some people use packing tape. The scotch tape isn't as wide but it still covered everything up for me.

I prefer to deal with the stuff coming from the sky rather than the crap coming off the road ;-)