I like the idea of a good rigid fork on hybrids. They're cheaper and perform much better than the standard El Cheapo suspension forks most come with. With that said what is the goal or objective you're trying to achieve? It sounds like you're trying to make the bike something it's not.
The bike has been xtracycled, so my goal is to switch out the fork to get better performance, rigidity, and strength while also eliminating the over compressing situation caused by the change in center of gravity.
It's certainly very rideable, and I've taken it on 35 mile r/t loaded trips. But I know that the fork is compressing more than it should and probably throwing off he geometry of the bike a bit and putting more weight on my hands and so on.
It's pretty much conventional wisdom that you need a rigid for with an xtra. I have found that you don't. Still, I think it's worth the switch. I think I confused the issue by trying to give all the relevant details in my original posting.