I would say give rigid a try unless you can afford a fork with a lockout. Out of saddle climbs are infinitely better with a rigid fork and your going to have lots of them on your ss. That said I switch between a rigid and suspended forks depending on what trail I'm going to ride. Alot of the trails around here are just too rooty to ride rigid every descent becomes a battle against the bike and trail and there is no fun in that. Plus my forearms give out long before my legs which severely limits the length of rides. On relatively smooth trails or ones with long climbs however the pogoing drives me crazy so I use my rigid fork. If you get extra brakes and a crown race or have a split one it only take a couple of minutes to switch.