gang–since I’ve got my entry level road bike, was thinking I could use her for winter riding. thought about getting some fatter tires, and ones with more tread or something. any other recommendations?
(oh, and btw, dummy down is a joke…it’s not like she’s fancy as is)
kitty
If you have the clearance for it, I’d pick up a set of fenders. Full ones, not those clip-ons or the itty-bitty ones you see plastered all over the walls at some LBS’s. Your riding partners will thank you for it. Hell, there’s a club here (in Vancouver) that insists that everyone not only have fenders, but fender extenders (a home-brew mod to make the rear fender longer). If you don’t have 'em, you ride at the back of the pack.
Planet Bike, Zefal and SKS all make full fenders for around $20-30.
Fenders: not only does it keep the rider behind dry it will help keep you drier and hence warm (front wheel and rear wheel splash) I ride with a road group that require them and most of them use clip ons (clip on to seat stays) with fender extenders. Seems to work fine.
Light: if you ride at night or in the dusk. I use two front and two back.
Tires: I dont bother with anything special (use any training tire) but some use tire liners or Specialised Armadildo tires (that what I call them anyway!) I dont like either as the ride is stiff, but maybe I should as I have had 5 flats in 2 weeks. The Armadildos are really hard to put on. But I do chnge tires often as a precaution as there is a lot of debris around where I ride. Others can give you more detail on thread but I dont really notice much difference in terms of thread.
Good luck
Hey Simon, you manage to get over the pain of racing yet? Sounds like you’re riding again, at least. 
Rain and that nasty, fine, wet, road grit are the winter problems (maybe a little Mt. St. Helens ash) in the PNW. 28c tires, cheap cog set, cheap chain rings, cheap chain, cheap rims, and fenders is my rainy winter season setup. The grit going to wear things out really fast so cheap is good.
Jay
Riding with a coached roadie group and its an experience. I dont recall my hrt rate ever getting to 95% of max in 6 years of IM training, now my hrt is that high every time we ride with the group. We ride in the dark last night it was up Cap to Grouse. All this is very new to me!! I am suffering every group workout, but its fun
First time I joined a roadie group I was just about keeping with them - it was a hard workout. The next day I saw a girl from the ride in a local shop. She said - “sorry for going so slow - one of the older guys was recovering from a bypass operation”.
To answer the question - You would no get back decent money for it. Best is to keep it as a winter training bike and build your base endurance on it. I have used Continental Gatorskin on my winter bike – no punctures and good grip. I also bought really good lights. This summer my races were much better due to my consistent winter training. The year before I was more lazy in the winter and I paid for it afterwards.
I also brought out the old trainer bike for the off season. Also put on the cheap, big tires (23’s). Only other thing I did was to put on a set of Mr. Tuffy’s tire liners. I won’t say they make the tires bullet-proof, but pretty close!
Coached, eh? You riding with the Krebs guys?
Make sure you keep up with basic maintenance stuff. Things like cleaning and lubricating will be more important over the winter with the wet dirty slush that will get everywhere. Plus, invest in good riding gear. Don’t forget your fingers toes and ears. They’re the first things to freeze. Have fun, I spent the last two New England winters mountain biking about once a week and it was great, even though it was more effort and more of a pain in the butt.