Proper ride hide

I have a Giant hardtail with an 80mm travel fork that I'm looking to
upgrade. In shopping around I've noticed that a lot of the newer forks
sport 100+ mm of travel, although there are still some nice 80mm forks
still available. I do mostly XC riding and realize that with increased
travel, I will be raising the front of the bike to a more chopper like
position, which would effect handling.

Question: If I bought a longer travel fork(100+), can I adjust the
preload so that my ride height would be the similar to 80mm? Is there
any drawback to doing this? Or should I just limit my shopping to 80mm
forks?

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