Commuting isn't all too new to me but the winter part is. I've got twenty mile round trip that usually takes my 30-35 minutes on my road bikes the rest of the year. All I had in my bike arsenal were nicer road bikes and nothing I wanted to take out into the elements. So last month I was down in Madison for the Cronometro swap and decided to check out some shops afterwards. I originally wanted a Bianchi hybrid I found on CL as it would make a decent commuter/CX bike also but forgot to email the guy to get his contact info so my loss. I stopped at all the shops I could find and found a decent Bianchi Nyala mtb at Dream Bikes for cheap. For just $100 it was completely tuned up with quite a few new bits...chain,cassette, cables, tires and brake pads. Now it's was setup more like a hybrid with the sweep back riser bars, skinny Panaracer Pasela tires and big squishy gel sofa saddle. I quickly changed and picked up a few things to keep my man card and make it more manly.
Before

Now


She's got less then $200 invested including the bike.
$100 Bike(Dream Bikes)
$30 Planet Bike Fenders(Nasbar)
$17 Zefal headlight/taillight combo(Walmart)
$16 Schwinn rear rack(Walmart)
$20 Innova studded tires(Craigslist)
$15 Bell rear luggage bag(Walmart)

The other parts I just had laying around. I've got a spare tube, patches, two combo tools and a pump in my luggage bag so I think she's ready to take on anything. Once the snow is gone then I'll toss back on the Pasela's. Am I missing anything else I should pick up. I normally ride completely empty handed and just cross my fingers and was lucky all year. But I just don't want to get stranded as most of my commute is further out of town so better safe then sorry.

Just a warning to check the wear on the studs periodically. Innova doesn't usually put carbide tipped studs on their tires so they don't wear as well. Unfortunately they might be done as quickly as the end of this season depending on how much bare pavement you end up riding on.

Think about swapping the mud flap on that front fender for something that will hang much closer to the ground. It'll keep more junk out of your drive train.

Otherwise I'd say you're in pretty good shape. Eventually you'll probably want a brighter light but good lights aren't cheap.

I found two studs that were missing but for twenty bucks you can't complain. If I like winter commuting that I'll pick up a decent set of tires with carbide studs next winter.

The lights aren't that bad. I have another set on my road bike that I use for commuting during the rest of the year. I actually took that one off and now have two lights on front that cast a pretty nice beam.