i mean, it's really not much more expensive than the (imo) horrible looking other options for cheap steel forks. never rode the bike without the fork, so can't really comment on differences versus my stock flite 100 fork. it does have an aluminum steerer, so it's not gonna be super super light. but why not, dude? a little lighter and dampens bumps.

Ok, sorry for the totally newb question, but just how much difference does it make going from a raked fork to a straight fork? Does the straight one make it more agile?

Well that's true and if I really needed a new fork I'd probably do that, but unfortunately I don't necessarily "need" a new fork so it's harder for me to justify spending the money. Like I said I'll probably pick it up if I see a good coupon on nashbar.

Ugh, I just noticed a 20% off coupon on nashbar... ****.

a straight blade you mean? a curved fork can have the same rake as a straight blade, for example

https://store.somafab.com/sostbltrfo.html
https://store.somafab.com/sothfo.html

can have the same rake.
its all about the rake.

however, if your original fork has say, 40mm of rake and the new one has 42, there's little to no difference that you'll feel. Going from 28 to 45, will.

City Bikes just called me to let me know the fork they had for me turned out to be a 1 1/8" so it won't work.

Looking online, the carbon nashbar fork is a good $20 cheaper than the pake fork.

The nashbar has a 300mm steerer and a 42mm rake.
the pake has a 300mm steerer and 38mm rake.

4mm shouldn't make a noticeable difference right? Thinking I might as well go with the carbon fiber. What ya think?

Do it, there is a 20% coupon right now that will make it $60 + shipping. I'm very close to pulling the trigger on the same fork. I don't think it'd be a huge difference, maybe a very, very slight difference, but I doubt you'd notice it unless you were going really fast.

EDIT: Your probably looking for a threadless fork, so it might be a few dollars more.