Yup, the sizing is my only problem with Arc'teryx, I fit between two sizes with their jackets so everything is either a little too big or a little too small 
How do you manage to wear through a gore-tex shell? That's crazy 
)
I often wear
Fjäll Räven trousers which are a mixture of waxed cotton and polyester. Basically very comfortable and hard wearing. (No specialized cycling clothing for me) The Peak jacket was also a mixture of cotton and polyester but the polyester content was lower. So the lower drawstring would always rub against the trousers when cycling and because the jacket's material was 'softer' it wore through first.
You guys and your outer wear. When I ride my bike in the winter time I just wear my Arctic Carhart, jeans and uninsulated leather work gloves. When it gets really cold -10°F I start to think about insulated leather gloves. Thats also when the pajama pants go on under the jeans.
Keep in mind that even though The Netherlands is fairly temperate because of the gulf stream and its location next to the sea, its latitude is basically the same as Newfoundland and Labrador. Average temperatures in winter lie between 0-5°C (32-41°F). That also means however that humidity is high (80-90%) and there is often a strong wind. But once it does get down to -20°C (-10°C) with an average wind force of 7, the wind chill makes it feel like -40°C or -43°F.
We've had guests from Canada and even Russia who are used to temperature of -30°C (-22°F) in winter. They were getting hypothermia because they couldn't stay warm in their winter clothes (a sweater and a down jacket). And that was simply around the freezing point.
Without windproof gloves and a windproof shell I can't even operate my bike in winter. And that's even without factoring in the rain that sometimes comes down around those temperatures. Snow in winter is rare here, as it melts too quickly, but ice however...
This was the winter of 2013 btw
(sorry, last winter we didn't even have snow, North America was hogging all of it
)
It's basically slush coming from the sky and unless your jacket is waterproof, you will get wet and be in freezing temperatures. Not that much fun.
I love cycling in winter though.
...
I'm ranting aren't I
