Or unless you ride through water runoff that splodges silt, dirt, and gravel all over your wheel rims and scrapes up the brake tracks.

OP, if you're looking for disc brakes, the term "cyclocross" will make your search more difficult just because many 'cross bikes are built for racing and discs aren't legal in all cyclocross racing organizations.

Anyway, also look for the Salsa Vaya, Jamis Aurora Elite, Kona Sutra and Dew Drop, and Civia Bryant (all QBP brands, and likely available to your LBS). There's also REI's Novarra Buzz and a few others. You might not find all, or any, of them for test riding, though.

I started a somewhat similar thread a little while ago. Although I was looking for some of the same features (although tire width isn't that important to me), it was more focused on a few bikes:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...s-Aurora-Elite