"ok, so is it at all possible to stay lean on test (provided diet and cardio are in order)? or it is better off just to save for a bulking cycle?"
Bulking and cutting has to do with diet not what AAS you take. Sure test may give you more water retention than winny, then again maybe not. But water is not fat and fat is not water. The two seem to be thought of as one many times in the bodybuilding world. Either someone who is fat going into a show thinking they are holding water (or wishing they were holding water) and someone who puts on 10 lbs in a week after starting test or deca thinking it is fat when it is only water.
The point of using test or deca between cycles of winny for example is to preserve or perhaps even increase the muscle mass one gained from the winny. While there may (or may not) be additional virilizing sides, they will certainly be far less effects on blood lipids (HDL and LDL) and liver toxicity.
Without the test or deca, you will lose muscle and get fatter. It is simply due to a change in nutrient repartitioning (toward fat and away from muscle) because you are now an estrogen vs androgen based system regardless of how you train and/or diet.
W6