Mountain Biking - Changing Fork Travel Setup - comments?

OK, I have a Trek 7000, circa 98-99, which has a Manitou SX TI fork - 80 mm travel.
I'd like to 1. try something 'newer' with adjustments which really work (fork has been great, but the adjustments never seemed to have much impact...) 2. get a fork with lockout
3. service the Manitou, but not be out of action in the meantime, since this is the best time of year for ridin in our back country - late spring to Fall the back country is incredibly hot, desert-like...

The Trek setup - Manitou Fork is 80mm.
see attached pics ...

What impact should I consider in goin to a fork which has:

1. 100 mm travel
2. 120 mm travel

Note the Manitou has almost no offset, so its possible a 'longer' fork/travel setup may not affect 'trail' if the fork has some additional forward offset (compared to the Manitou)

Some forks have multi-adjustments - how well do those work? Some have to be torn apart to set a different travel (Tora)
I'm not looking for a high-end fork or spending big dosh... used but in good condition is a consideration...

Any and all comments and ideas are appreciated, especially from anyone whose upgraded on an older frame...

suspension forks that have rim brake mounts are getting harder to come by these days

a decent one will run you atleast 200 bucks

suspension forks that have rim brake mounts are getting harder to come by these days

a decent one will run you atleast 200 bucks

yeah, seems like that, but $200 is okay if it lasts as long as the Manitou has. And I haven't given up on the Manitou, except that I'll prolly not want to move back from a new fork when I put one on.

I did a BF search before this post and came up with nada for my query. 2nd search however shows another 7000 owner askin about a new fork, back in Dec. And the only real rec. was a Tora. But I;ve taken that off the list since I don't wanna have to go internal to set 100 or 80.
Doesn't seem like many forum listers have done much upgrading on older, but still nice, hardtails for plain xc. either than or they haven't found a good match. or are just not talkin.
I know, get a new bike...
I'm old, I like old, I'll just keep pokin around til I find something good for the 7000. Or someone comes up with a good rec.

the tora was the only reasonably priced fork i saw with rim brake mounts. i have a 500 dollar fork that is unable to have travel adjusted on the fly. i dont know of any forks that can do that, im not saying they arent around, im no expert.

You might have to give up travel adjustment to get a fork with canti brake studs. Face it, most good forks made in the past 3 years are disc only, so there's not a lot of choices.

I'd go with 100mm travel in a blink, maybe 120 if you catch air and slam drops. The difference in travel will raise the front end a little and slacken the frame angles, which is a good thing since most hardtails from the 90's were a bit steep and racy anyway.
Check out the Maniou R7, it has canti mounts, it's light and has good adjustability.

IMO those sx ti forks were quite good (for the time) and fairly easy to service, not to mention being on the lighter side. I don't think switching forks is worth it in this case (which I know isn't what you want to hear). Have the fork serviced and ride it until it breaks.