I have had all 3 of them so here goes.
The Pikes I owned were initially unreliable until I rebuilt the damper and changed the seal in the damper head, felt like a vast improvement on my Pushed Fox 34 I was running previously. It was both stiffer, better damped and with a more controlled feel.
Then came the 36 RC2, initially I was blown away, felt great and considerably stiffer than the Pike. On longer rides I found myself suffering from hand fatigue so I started playing round with them and doing a bit of digging. Mine had the very early tune in the damper so I changed it to the newer tune. It seemed to make very little difference to the feel of the fork overall. I have tried a lot to get the initial small bump compliance I want and I had from the Pike but its just not happening. I am going to try one last thing and see if that helps but I am not sure it will. Also after its sat even for just a few hours it takes a bit of a pop to break the initial stiction.
I now have a Lyrik at 170mm and I could not be happier, its stiffer than a Pike, not quite as stiff I don’t think as the 36 but not far off. It is very plush off the top (even more so than the Pike) and it stays high in its travel. There is no initial stiction even after its been sitting for a few days and up to now its been totally reliable.
Out of the 3 I would go for the Lyrik.