Touring - replacing shock fork with rigid on hardtaill: which is best quality in your op

i am not sure if i will get a replacement of my front shock or just get a rigid fork...converting hardtail dekerf generation into a commuter touring bike....so i want a very high end fork that is both lightweight and strong....

suggestions...

I'm not rich enough to advise on the "very high end" but some things you need to think about are Axle-to-crown distance, disc/canti/both, lowrider mounts.

I'd reckon something carbon to meet the high end requirement, maybe custom Ti.

I got a suspension-corrected rigid cromo fork to replace my front shocks.. This way the seat tube angle remains fairly constant after the swap. The fork is a Voodoo Zombie with cantilever brake mounts.. Very happy with it so far.

http://www.airbomb.com/ItemMatrix.asp?GroupCode=PG-1185&MatrixType=1&agent=Froogle&utm_source=Feeds&utm_medium=GoogleProduct&utm_campaign=Froogle

One problem that came up with this fork is that even the canti version comes with disk brake mounts. These get in the way of some front fender mounting hardware. I had mine ground down and painted over at my LBS to be able to mount the fender.. Minor inconvenience, but could be deal breaker for some.

A while back I used this Winwood Carbon fork, though they can be pricey, it worked out well.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm320/robow7/good.jpg?t=1307209738

Oooh, that Winwood looks nice.

There's also Ritchey carbon forks. 500 smackeroos, just a hair over a pound. They might be a tad short in the ATC dimension especially for running smaller slicks, as it's said to be made to match up to 80mm suspension fork.

http://www.ritcheylogic.com/dimg/db6f5b2db536595f3b7f368384b7a62a.jpg