Originally Posted by
ozzyski
would the paragon or similar fork be worth the upgrade over the sontour? would there be a noticeable difference in the ride?
Yes.
Suntour NEX hlo: coil spring (crudely adjustable for your weight); hydraulic damping; lock-out (on or off); 2650 grams
Paragon Gold: air spring (properly adjustable for your weight); hydraulic damping with low-speed compression adjustment (to lock-out if desired); 1860 grams
Summary: you'd preserve the designed steering geometry of your bike, knock 1.7 lbs of dead weight off the front end of your bike, gain the ability to tune the fork's response to your liking, and get rid of steel parts (steerer, stanchions), which in a suspension fork improves longevity.
The NEX is a perfectly decent fork for the price. The Paragon Gold is in another league altogether, and for not a lot of money. There are Suntour equivalents -- the NCX E Air, for example -- but these can be tricky to source after-market.