Alternatives to 29er Pikes...

After my 2014 Pikes shit the bed in Tignes, they have been warrantied, well sort of, as they were out of stock the shop has simply given me my money back. Can't say fairer than that!

But it does leave me in somewhat of a quandry, what to replace them with… I have a set of 140mm Rock Shox Revs RCT3 that I got to keep me going over the rest of summer/autumn but I'm finding the 32mm stanchions etc a little flexy compared to the pike so I'm looking at 140/150mm 29er forks (non-boost preferably) with a 34mm+ stanchion. They are for my (old Mk1) Rootdown.
Does anyone have experience of the following in particular compared to a Pike Solo Air RCT3:

Fox 34 Factory (a mate is getting me hopefully a good price as he is mates with Chris Porter at Mojo)
Fox 36 Factory (ditto)
RS Yari (cheap option at £380)
RS Lyrik (£699)
MRP Stage (£799)
DVO Diamond (£799)
X-Fusion Trace Roughcut (£585)

Anything else I have missed?

Or do I just get another (but this time 2016) Pike (£580)?

I had a Suntour Auron, it was pretty great as well as cost effective.

In my experience the newish Lyrik is a refined and more durable Pike. Beefier stanchion/crown interface, therefore no creak so far.

Everything else that could fail is a couple minutes job (swap some o-rings, re-bleed) for most bike shops.

The Yari is also pretty good, feels nice. But the Charger damper would be worth the upcharge in my opinion.

Everything FOX Favtory is a no-brainer also. If the price is bearable, you'll be happy with 2015+ forks.

The new Suntour stuff is great also, but not much cheaper than a Pike, at least in Europe.

What DID fail on your Pike?

If it was the creaky CSU - you could get that again.

If it was the leaky/blown charger - which gushed damper oil into the lowers and resulted in hydro bottom out - that's fixed with the new damper rebound side seals.

I'd go Lyrik, love mine.
Fox is just expensive over here, but also beautifully made. Performance is similar for me.

X-Fusion doesn't really hit my spot, they're not cheap enough over here to "risk" something.
And if you're a hipster you'd rather buy something Italian.

I had an early Pike and it was ok. My current late model Fox 36 is awesome. Damping seems way more sophisticated than RS but I haven't tried the newer ones. It developed a bit of crown creak; freshly warrantied and back to being awesome. The 36 is unique in accepting a 20mm axle.

The Ohlins 36 is intriguing but very pricey and Boost spacing only. I keep hoping someone will build a Totem for 29. The Enduro 29/Slash/Wreckoning need something more substantial.

^Lyrik 29 goes to 180mm. Or Dorado or MRP Groove

OP:
Öhlins RXF 36 and 34.
X-Fusion Metric
MPR Ribbon

I swapped a 34 RLC TALAS for a 36 FLOAT RC2 onto my Surface as soon as they came out.

Ed
Added 2nd MRP fork

Lyrik 29r goes to 180mm now sweet :clap:

Yeaha return of the totem would be sweet. Make the fork that the lyrik shoulda been.

Im surprised the pike shit the bed so badly. After 1000 hours and a bunch of quick lube changes, I finally had to do damper service for a whopping $100. I guess im saying… how about another pike?

the 36 is VERY nice.

I have a year on a DVO Diamond on my Evil Following and I'm very impressed with that fork. I'm running it at 140mm travel and the ability to tune that fork to my liking makes me tingle in my special spot.

Supple initial action, nice mid-stroke support and tidy ramp at full travel. Reliable too.

I've ran Pikes before, have a 34 tuned by Vorsprung on another bike and also have a 36.. I think the DVO is as good if not better in some respects.

I had a Suntour Auron, it was pretty great as well as cost effective.

I have been running one of these in my hard tail for the last few months. I like it as much as my pike. the pike feels sloppy in comparison but the auron is flexier. weird but true.

What DID fail on your Pike?

If it was the leaky/blown charger - which gushed damper oil into the lowers and resulted in hydro bottom out - that's fixed with the new damper rebound side seals.

X-Fusion doesn't really hit my spot, they're not cheap enough over here to "risk" something.
And if you're a hipster you'd rather buy something Italian.

The Damper failed somewhat catastrophically (oil coming down the rebound adjuster).
I have come to the conclusion that the DVO, Lyrik, MRP etc are out of my price range.

I know I like the Pike and the X-Fusion is the same price as the Pike. I'm struggling with the gold stanchions on the X-Fusion from an aesthetic point of view.

I have also heard that SRAM prices will be going up by 20% in the UK due to Brexit. So I might just grab a set of Pikes now barring an amazing price from Mr Porter on Fox.

Then it sounds like a regular service, 100pounds at TFTUNED, should fix that issue. If it's just a failed cartridge.

And if the fork is otherwise in good condition -just get it repaired. Cheaper and environmentally friendlier…

Then it sounds like a regular service, 100pounds at TFTUNED, should fix that issue. If it's just a failed cartridge.

And if the fork is otherwise in good condition -just get it repaired. Cheaper and environmentally friendlier…

Except I don't have the fork anymore, it got "warrantied" but they just gave me my money back rather replacement product.

Ah, sorry I didn't get that!

FYI my 2016 Lyrik developed a horrible creak somewhere near the crown during the last two riding days :)

Warranty time - as soon as my brand new Pike comes back from warranty - it's nuts.