~$200 is the price range. 4 to 5 inches of travel. doesn't even have to have lockout.
my Suntour fork (stock on 08 HRS) becomes rigid in anything under 45 degrees. i assume it is a coil fork, as it has preload adjustment on each fork cap, but no other adjustments. it is also heavy.
suggestions?

Used Marzocchi Z1 or Z2 coil, any year.

Like butter at -25C, open bath is almost salt-proof.

Remember that a good synthetic fork oil in any fork will work better in the cold than standard fork oil, matter of fact it will work better in any conditions compared to standard fork oil.

synthetic multi-weight, or just single weight synthetic?

Remember we're talking about a Suntour fork. It most likely has no oil in it and is elastomer.

i was looking around on their website and i found this:
https://www.srsuntour-cycling.com/SID...tail&tnid=1632
it has PDFs of the "instructions" and an exploded view of the fork. it doesn't ever mention oil, but it does say to shoot some teflon spray around the rubber dust boots every 25 hours (i have done it 3 times, not sure about hours though. it never seemed to change the fork for longer than 30 minutes), and to have it serviced for greasing after 50 hours. will it do any good to disassemble, grease, and re-assemble the fork, or is this just a CYA thing from Suntour? it is 73 in my apartment, and it does not compress smoothly on the lowest preload setting, then takes about 1 to 1.5 seconds to completely rebound.

OK, look: you have a low-end Suntour fork with no damping circuits; therefore, no oil. It is a grease-lubed fork; and the grease stiffens in the cold. You are going to find this in most lower-priced replacements too, because lower-end Manitous, most RSTs and a few others - - even if they have rebound-damping circuits - - are grease-lubed forks. As mentioned above, a surer bet is to look for a Marzocchi or some other open- or semi-open oil-bath fork that actually uses fork oil for not only the damping circuits but for keeping the bushings lubed.

ok, look: i have rebuilt many motorcycle forks (among other things), but never a bicycle fork. i just paid for books and tuition, so i was trying to see if rebuilding it would get me through until this summer, when i will have disposable cash. i have not said that i am not looking for a used better quality fork, i'm just asking if this thing is at all salvageable while i look for a new fork. since rebuild = almost free.
sorry for annoying you personally, dminor, but the search isn't working for me right now. i just wanted to know if spending the time taking it all apart and putting it back together would change anything, or if it would be back to the viagra fork in 3 days.

at least this wasn't another "my 29er is soooo much better than any 26" bike, even though i have no facts to back up my claim" thread. AND i kind of did my homework on the suntour website.

Wasn't trying to jump on you . . . but at the start of your thread where you mentioned a price-point and a question of "Fork that works well in the cold?" I think a few of us had the impression you wanted to actually replace it, not just refurb it.

To answer your new question, yes it's possible that you can help it along some by pulling it down, cleaning and regreasing the internals. The grease becomes contaminated and just plain 'worn' after a season; and the gunkier it is, the more it's going to stiffen up in the cold. My nice, plush RST R1 turned to a sluggish block of teeth-jarring ice my last (Fall) race of this season just for that reason.

By all means, tear it down, clean it up, make sure the bushings still slide freely, no cracked or trashed elastomers and regrease it - - with a lighter, more 'winter-friendly' grease if you care to (knowing that you may want to recoat with some heavier stuff when the warm weather comes) - - and button 'er back up. I've no doubt you'll feel the difference.

There, how's that?

Doug, you're such a *****!

^^ I aim to please . . . you aim too, please.

thanks. : ]

lmao i love it when people tweak for no reason lol

Having met Doug in person, I know he's a jerk and knows how to push people's buttons! So I'm not surprised people respond like that.

I didn't used to be that way. I used to be a limp dishrag that everyone walked on. Then I sent away for "Junkyard's Guide to Winning Friends and Influencing People" - - the whole boxed book-on-tape set. People look at me funny on in traffic when I'm doing the 'out-loud' exercises.