I have two power2max ngeco meters, and one quarq. Very happy with both. Assioma pedals are good if you like look pedals. I'd avoid rotor, I know several people who have had issues with them, and I'd avoid single side power meters.

Very happy with 4iiii on Ultegra. Have also had them on SLK Carbon cranks and 105.

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I've been on Quarq (currently have 3 still working) since 2012. Whilst have had some early troubles when the chain dropped inbetween frame and chainset needing the chainset to be fixed the service from both Quarq HQ in the US and locally in NZ was very good.

Since then rock solid and my next one will almost certainly be another SRAM/Quarq.

Note that in the first 5 years I was swapping it between road and TT bike very frequently. And would take way less than 1 minute to do, so way easier than swapping pedals (was 1 bolt).

To be fair, avoid Shimano and you aren't going to go too far wrong, and I say that as someone with 10 of the 11 bikes in the shed being shimano groupsets. Makes me sad they can't get it right.

Power2Max NGeco just flat out works. And inexpensive.

Anyone in triathlon that DOES NOT use Assioma (or similar) is crazy. And those that say crank based is 'better' are full of shit..

lol. I use favero on one bike, but your comment is plain silly.

I use Assioma Duo’s on my road bike and I agree that they are awesome. Not a single problem and tons of data compared to my old quarq. But if my new tri bike comes with a crank power meter, I’m not throwing it away. 😂

Probably a bit of an aero benefit using a crank based power meter.

Your question is so open ended the only easy answer is NOT Shimano.

One option to consider is aero. The new WattShop cranks have aero crank arms, a very narrow Q-factor, adjustable crank length and work with the SRM PM. There could be 10 watts in aero and improved power output getting everything dial and maybe 5 aero watts. Definitely more pricey up front and probably not the lightest, but you can spend a ton of money hunting for the best crank length.

I second Duncan's experience, in that I have a Quarq that I bought in 2003 and it's still going strong.

I just bought a new bike and I'm going to grab some Speedplay/Wahoo power pedals (new bike will not work with OLD Quarq).

The answer to you question is... (1) it depends on how many bikes you have, (2) what size crank you run, and (3) within 1 and 2, how swappable to you want your meter to be.

I have 5 PM's from Power2max. My oldest one's are from 2014. Like others have said, they just work.

I have installed at least 15 more of them on friends' bikes. They are all still active.

I also have 4 sets of Garmin Vector 3's between mine and my GF's bikes. 3 were refurbished and 1 was new. They also work well. The only issue I had was the battery doors on the new one. Garmin warrantied them and sent replacement doors.

+1 for Power2Max. Have 3 since 2015 and they have never showed even one 0 output.

I just put a 300 euro SRAM Rival AXS crankset on my Gravel bike, which IMO makes power management affordable enough for all.

Some of us prefer more aero pedals

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On the balance of things, Assiomas are by far the best deal on the PM one can get especially when they drop the price 10%-20% every now and then.
Crankset based PMs are fine but unless you're committing to the cranklength/ring sizes for 2-3 years, buying them in 2023 doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Spider based power meters similar to this though. No real restrictions on changing cranks or chainrings with most modern ones, and you're not locked onto a specific pedal system. Each system has it's own drawbacks for sure, depending on what's important to you

for a crank p2max is the way to go - for pedals assioma are stupidly cheap and they just work!

with that being said: I sold my assioma and got me a set of wahoo just because I love the speedplay system too much :)

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

Or generally committing to a spider "standard". I've swapped out rings and cranklengths for my TT Power2Max a few times. But it's on the "old" 130BCD 5-arm standard. If I ever change out from my "SRAMmano" 11-speed setup, I might be in trouble.

Just repeating myself - but how about this as the best deal?

In addition to aero, I have big feet and issues with my heels rubbing the chainstays on two bikes. Speedplay heel in/out adjustment is fantastic (and Speedplay adjustment in general).

That's a great deal for a gravel bike. But the wide spindle and chain line designed for offroad rear hub spacing aren't great for a TT/tri bike. Neither is the 46T largest ring available in that direct-mount system.

Point taken. Did OP ask for TT specific ?

It's also a single-sided pm, with all the attendent issues.

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

I should've clarified, but definitely road (or TT?) since it would be going on my training bike.

Issues? If for a Training setup - most athletes would (if close enough to 50/50) be OK with left sided?

What other issues are there? I am using double sided (SRM / P2M) on all my 3 road / tri bikes

my only TINY beef with wahoo pm is the size of the pod - I could set up the assioma as narrow as I wanted but with wahoo you need to be mindful of the pod.

The shoe also plays a part - lake shoes are easier to get closer but giro shoes have almost flat soles which makes it harder to get close without rubbing the pod.

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev