Originally Posted by
Trav1s
My first thought was to pick up a 90's steel frame mountain bike and spend some time on it. Even short travel forks do make a difference on basic singletrack. Your bike and your call.
That being said - an mid 90's Hardrock plus new tires and derailuer upgrade gave me a capable singletrack bike for not much cash. Installing the 2.25" tires made a world of difference when encountering roots/etc on trails over the original 1.75" tires. It was not a forgiving or comfortable than my current bike with a suspension fork but it was a great option to explore.
As much as I like to upgrade my bikes, removing a suspension fork from the bike in the original post and replacing it with a rigid piece seems like madnes... pure madness I say