Well the beast has arrived, and I'm glad to report that it's everything I had hoped for. With a carbon frame and near-road geometry, it's amazingly precise and climbs like a demon. I'm very pleased with its off-road abilities: deep mud, long grass and uneven pasture are no problem at all. It's rather jittery on dry terrain, but I'd expect that with mud-tyres. I hope to try some less knobbly, more textured tyres soon. The only terrain it (or I) absolutely can't deal with is large rocks, but with that light road-like frame I'm quite happy to take a detour on the tarmac or even carry the bike for a while.
The new CX addict,
-Tim