I’m told a quarq can be added to GRX drivetrain for $500
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I think it’ll be more expensive: you will need to purchase a SRAM crank in addition to the power meter. Other options are 4iiii and Stages, but with GRX cranks you might run into frame clearance issues. Plus, these solutions are single-sided. (You can get a dual-sided power meter for GRX, but these likely have the same accuracy issues as Ultegra and DuraAce power crank-based meters, because of the asymmetric crank arm design.)
If you go for SRAM, you can easily add a power meter. Even its Rival eTap AXS groupset has a very cheap single-sided power meter option. It is cheaper than putting on a 4iiii or a Stages. With Force and Red cranks you can use a Quarq DZero/DFour power meter (the difference is only the bolt pattern for the chainrings).
Yep.
In addition, I expect Shimano to continue to offer a 48/31 chainring option, too. For reference, with the smaller (IMHO better-suited) 46/30 chainrings, Shimano would offer 502 % vs. 516 % range.
Even though I know it is outside the scope of this thread, I wonder what 12-speed cassettes Shimano will release for the 1x version.
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I agree with the shimano offering for 2x being superior. My biggest issue is lack of parts and power meter offering.
But a quarq dub dfour solves that issue, I think you can fit grx rings on that.
Unfortunately you can’t. The 2x GRX rings have a different bolt pattern than the road groups to allow for smaller front chain rings.
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That stinks
Do you know of other options?
I just use a stages left arm on my GRX crankset. There is also Power2Max on Rotor cranks https://www.power2max.com/en/ngeco-gravel-power-meter/
Rotor makes excellent stuff. Their cranks, especially the aluminum ones, have a reputation of being top-shelf parts (Rotor’s expertise is in CNC manufacturing). They have three different power meter options, one-sided, crank-based (like a Quarq DZero) and two-sided; if you want 46/30 direct mount chainrings (round or oval), you need to pick between the one-sided or two-sided options. The cranks are modular, i. e. if you buy a new bike and you need a different crank spindle, you buy just that and bolt on your cranks.
The latter needs Oval chainrings are their thing. I love my oval 34-tooth chainring on my XTR cranks. The chainrings came with beautifully machined parts to screw into, which work 100x better than the Shimano ones. (Shimano’s are non-identical and would constantly twist out of position, which means your chainring is crooked … 
)
Yeah, Shimano really has a problem in the power meter department. It seems to me that they are far behind the times. Their second-gen in-house road power meters are still unreliable. You want a power meter on your gravel bike? Well, it won’t be a Shimano. And do mountain bikers really use power?!?
This is my only gripe with my mountain bike’s XTR groupset (apart from being 11-speed rather than 12-speed): I have no good option to add a power meter without sending in my cranks (I have the older 11-speed M9000-series groupset). Or replace an otherwise perfectly good crank with something else. If my bike came with the equivalent X01 or XX1 crankset, all I needed to do is order the right Quarq powermeter and screw it on. Ugh.
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Sounds like I could use a quarq or 2INpower with the rotor cranks
2INPower is the dual-sided power meter I was talking about. The Quarq is to my knowledge incompatible with Rotor cranks.
If you want smaller than compact chainrings (50/34), then you need the direct mount chainrings, and those are incompatible with the Quarq-style power meter. Hence, you either need the INPower (one-sided) or 2INPower (dual-sided) power meters and the direct mount chainrings.
I had great luck with my quarq dfour with DA 50/34 rings set up.
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Oops I meant power2max as the second option, with rotor cranks
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There is always something new coming. Sometimes better, sometimes meh. If you are looking for 2x gravel group w powermeter, it’s hard to find fault w sram axs force wide w 10/36 (in my opinion). What else are you looking for in a 2x gravel group set? Wireless, rock solid power meter, and flexible gearing. As a bonus, you can easily change the crank to 1x by getting a narrow/wide chainring. You can also swap in an eagle rd and 10/50 cassette in under 10 minutes if you ever want to go mtb gearing. The combo of wireless and compatibility across road/gravel/mtb components for easy mix and match makes sram pretty compelling in my opinion.
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Isn’t the gearing too tall for gravel?
34/34 worked fine for me, I’m 200lbs also.
Our gravel averages 1000’ of climbing per 10 miles, with steep short hills.
I am switching to a red crank though to have a 33 front and 36 rear
Technically yes, but I don’t think the ratios are meaningfully different, 46:10 = 4.60 vs. 50:11 = 4.55. SRAM’s gravel crank has a 43:10 = 4.30 ratio, essentially the same as Shimano’s 48:11 = 4.36.
IMHO the answer to that question is terrain-dependent. @Jkauffman was concerned about range earlier in this discussion, so I don’t know whether this is enough range.
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I haven’t heard that. Personally, a compact or equivalent crankset does not seem optimal.
Only if you pair that with a 10–33 cassette, with a 10–36 cassette, you have an extra gear, which in my book is a big plus (even on the road).
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12 spd GRX Di2 coming off embargo shortly…likely for Unbound.
LBS supposedly has a pre-embargo group on the way to them to build onto a frame…expecting it next week.
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It’ll be released tomorrow
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Is it usually a 10am EDT embargo? I was expecting 10am CET so have been procrastinating my real work eagerly awaiting info online. 
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