Originally Posted by
GrayJay
Original suspension elastomers go bad after 10 years or so. Unless those have been recently replaced, you will likely need to source new elastomers to get the fork working. Alternately, you can convert the fork to use coil springs but this provides no rebound dampening like the slow-rebounding elastomers did.
The fact that the frame came with a rigid fork makes me think it dates from around 1993, give or take a year. Much later than that, it was very unusual for a high-performance oriented MTB to come without a suspension fork. Lack of a permanently mounted rear cantilever cable stop is not a dealbreaker for it being a pre-V-brake era frame.
I have found a couple rebuild and travel extension kits online, I will definitely be sourcing some rebuild parts. I did however, read a thread in which someone microwaved the elastomers in a bowl of water for a couple minutes, returning them to "like factory condition." I will try this, just as a temporary fix until I get a proper rebuild kit in the mail.
Thanks for helping narrow down the year though, good insight.