I rode a pals Five with 34’s on, they felt ace.

I’m not tech enough to say why, they did just feel great. Nicer than my Dvo diamonds, I was well miffed.

Assuming it is the 2016 version, it won’t be CTD, it will be Fit4 which are a world away from the old CTD forks.
Very very little to choose between the 2016 Pikes & 34s (unlike 2015 and before). Fox’s will be a touch lighter and slightly better damping, RS will be a touch stiffer perhaps. I don’t believe there is much difference in service intervals on the 2016 models either. The differences are certainly not enough that it is worth paying money to swap from one to the other.

I went for the 34s on my build last year over the Pikes and no regrets.

Maybe the 34s are the ‘performance’ version rather than the ‘factory’ ones which have better damping?

My Five (2015, last of the mk1’s), came with the upgraded “factory” 34’s.
I’m not convinced they are as good as Pikes. They have got better with age but the difference between the CTD modes all but disappeared after about a dozen rides. Five rides after a warranty re-build & it’s gone again, I am a heavy chap but had I paid £700 for them I’d be mighty pissed off.
Maybe it’s me but no matter how much I tune them I just can’t get them to soak up small bumps well.
I doubt I’ll change them, I don’t ride it enough.
It only tends to come out for trips to Bike Park Wales.
I can’t fault them in terms of stiffness though, they certainly don’t feel flexy.

I had 2014 34s on my last bike which were pretty average before I spent £200+ at Mojo tweaking them, and after that they were great. Super plush and plenty stiff enough. My new bike has Pikes and although I haven’t had time to do much fiddling yet, my initial thoughts are that I prefer the 34s. Much more supple at the top of the travel. Mine were the posh Kashima factory ones and as above, the CTD dial was pretty poor, but I don’t think you’ll go wrong either way.