A stages PM is probably the easiest option, assuming you have a compatible crankset already. You “may” want to wait for a bit though. SRAM (who owns power tap) just recently bought Time pedals, who make some of the nicest mountain bike pedals out there. Pure speculation, but I’d guess that a Time power meter pedal will be coming out sometime.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

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2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I would say 4iiii or Power2Max is probably the way to go based on the information provided. Depending upon what crankset you currently have you could go single sided with 4iiii as long as you have clearance. If you wanted to swap cranks then Power2Max might be the way to go--either way people seem happy with those two companies based on what you are looking for on your bike. I've had a Power2Max on my road/tri bike and was VERY happy with it--I would definitely consider it for a gravel bike if I was looking to swap cranks.

If not a crank based system, then the SRM X-power seem like a great, albeit expensive option.

I know you wrote you don’t want to modify a road pedal, but changing the body on the Favero Assioma from road to spd is a 5min job.

Depending on the shoe there is also some modification needed there.

Which only takes another 5mins.

BIG fan of power meters integrated into the crankset.

My Checkpoint with a Quarq power meter: https://imgur.com/8k4BR1i

It's great since it is easy to charge with a single connection, it doesn't add bulk to the crank arm (specifically talking about styles like the Quarq unit), and looks sleek on the bike.

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Mitchell Mathews | Community Manager | Trek Bikes | @mitchmathewz

I am almost ashamed to admit this....
I have 4 power meters. Road, Tri, Gravel/CX bike and yes even my mountain bike
I have power2max on all of them, and have never had a single issue.

Stages and 4iiii are the least hassle if you have crank arms that have a flat backside for mounting. You didn’t say what crankset you have a d if you want to keep it, but the SRAM power meters are reasonably priced IF you don’t mind moving to their new crank and bottom bracket standard.

Everybody seems to love single sided power, but personally, even though its cheaper, I wouldnt do it. Talked to too many people who have seen variation in left/right balance as intensity changes. Assuming you want to stick with the same crank, favero assioma pedals with an xpeedo mountain bike body is probably your best bet. You can also get an FSA powerbox with 46/30 chainrings, although best I can tell, those are the only options you have to keep your current gearing

The Power2Max gravel version can take either 48/31 or 46/30 chainrings and supposedly has the same chain line as GRX.

A while back I ran a comparison of my Quarq along with a left side Stages power meter. Because I'm left leg dominant, the Stages overestimated my power by about 10%, with the discrepancy higher at lower intensities. In other words, the data was total junk for me.

Also check out the Rotor 2in power meter. You can bring your own chainrings as far as I’m aware

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the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning

I love my Favero Assimos that I switched over the pedal bodies to SPD. It sounds like a lot of work, but it literally takes 5 minutes with a couple of allen keys. And then if you ever want to switch back for a road bike down the road, you can.

Check out some youtube videos on it.

My gravel bike is a cyclocross bike. I got tired of HR TSS as it usually over reports, as when you go down little hills on gravel around corners and don't pedal your HR may recover a little but not enough to justify where a power meter would read a lot of zeroes.

I went left only Stages. I don't need the accuracy there that I like on a TT bike for testing or aero and interval training.

Generally my gravel riding workouts are Z2 or tempo. Just cruise and enjoy.

For gravel given you may want to stay with an off road pedal type I'd go crank, spider, spindle types. Not pedal type.

I have the FSA Powerbox on my gravel bike, seems to work really well.

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http://www.instagram.com/cyclewise

I don't know. Rock strikes, mud cake, me kicking the pedal to scrape mud off my cleat, submerging while plowing across a stream . That's a lot of abuse for an electronics package.

Electronics packaging can be fairly easily designed to survive those environments (take this from a guy who designs electronics packages that survive autoclave <pressurized steam> sterilization ;-)

In fact, one could argue that under-hood automotive electronics conditions are worse than what you describe...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Mitch, any chance you could send me the details of the setup on your Checkpoint? I currently have a Quarq on my Speed Concept that I really love. It just works. So helpful for pacing.

I also have a Checkpoint that I was considering adding a power meter to. So would love to hear what setup works well.

THanks,

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Ryan

Quarq Dzero

Yeah, I'm in military electronics. I design them to survive direct lightning strikes and conditions far beyond autoclave.

But part of good design is not exposing the stuff to worse conditions than you have to. Of course it could be done. But why, on MTB or gravel?

I'd be willing to bet that the environmental conditions (shock, vibe, etc.) of the pedal aren't much different than what's required for a crank spider.

The "why" is the advantage of portability across bikes, with the additional feature (more of a "that's cool to see" than anything at this time) of individual leg measurements and within-pedal-stroke measurements of force application.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

I have a Power2max on my mountain bike as well a few other bikes.

I've had zero problems with them.

Same here...I've got various Quarqs and PT hubs on everything from road/TT bikes to a MTB...in fact, I just last week re-laced my disc brake PT hub I was using on a 26" MTB into a 650B rim, so that it can be used for gravel/cx purposes, in addition to MTB use.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Sure thing!

I'm running a SRAM Red crank with their D1 power meter in DUB with 46-33 chainrings. To compliment that, I have SRAM Force AXS derailleurs, but the rear is their new Force Wide derailleur paired to a 10-33 cassette. And then I have Red shifters and brakes to finish it up.

Full bike build photo here (minus 700x35c tires that are now on it).

I've been enjoying the Quarq power meter so far. I moved from a Shimano R9100-P (Dura-Ace power meter). The Quarq power meter is nicer IMO, and it works on the Checkpoint where the Shimano unit didn't (though I had it on an Emonda SLR).

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Mitchell Mathews | Community Manager | Trek Bikes | @mitchmathewz