Can a 160 Lb teenager with strong legs produce 3-4 Horsepower on a bike?

Question

A real bike that you ride (BMX styles with 8-8.5" petals)

Answer 1

Most fit adults can produce 100 watts (0.134 horsepower) of mechanical power on a bicycle for a sustained period. A world-class competitive cyclist can produce up to 500 watts (0.67 horsepower) over a sustained period of time.

The human power measure of 1/10 of a horsepower got into science textbooks nearly a century ago and just never was corrected.

- engineer and cyclist

Answer 2

To help sell his steam engines, Watt needed a way of rating their capabilities. The engines were replacing horses, the usual source of industrial power of the day. The typical horse, attached to a mill that grinded corn or cut wood, walked a 24 foot diameter (about 75.4 feet circumference) circle. Watt calculated that the horse pulled with a force of 180 pounds, although how he came up with the figure is not known. Watt observed that a horse typically made 144 trips around the circle in an hour, or about 2.4 per minute. This meant that the horse traveled at a speed of 180.96 feet per minute. Watt rounded off the speed to 181 feet per minute and multiplied that by the 180 pounds of force the horse pulled (181 x 180) and came up with 32,580 ft.-lbs./minute. That was rounded off to 33,000 ft.-lbs./minute, the figure we use today.

Put into perspective, a healthy human can sustain about 0.1 horsepower. Most observers familiar with horses and their capabilities estimate that Watt was a bit optimistic; few horses could maintain that effort for long.

Answer 3

More than a hp for a short time. If you went up a stairs 4 steps in a second it would be 3/4 hp

Answer 4

M.B. is correct. Fit adults can produce about 1/10 HP, and top cyclists can get 1/4 HP but only for short burst.

(It is called HORSE power for a reason...)

Answer 5

No way. The best you could do is 1/10 of one horsepower.

Answer 6

Only with substancial gearing mechinisms.