Following up on my question from this summer... I ended up buying a Felt Endurance bike, mounting 33mm Cx tires on it (I think I could go up to 35mm easily, and maybe even 38's) and did 7 races this fall. A few had some muddy sections, but none of them were really muddy. The bike felt great - I don't think I had a worse time in tight corners or up steep, slick hills than others, but maybe I don't know what I'm missing. Thanks for the advice.