A fairly untrained cyclist is usually able to maintain 200W, so yes this is definitely possible

An untrained cyclist is not able to maintain 200 watts.

For an average untrained male cyclist who is 175lb, they should be able to maintain 1.5-2 w/kg over an hour, or 120-160watts. A beginner cyclist who's been cycling recreationally over over a year should be able to attain 2-2.5w/kg which is 160-200 watts. A recreational cyclist who's be training for several years should be able to maintain 200 watts.

Trust me, I'm a cyclist, and I cycle with a power meter.

▲

kowbell 4 hours ago | parent [-]

As an average male who is ~175lbs and untrained at cycling, this is hugely validating for my terrible idea; 140 watts is the max charging speed for 16" M5 MacBooks. I can finally stop thinking for myself and have my computer do it all for me, powered by my big beefy legs.

▲

kccqzy 4 hours ago | parent [-]

140 watts is the FTP. That means you can do it for an hour, and it will be an extremely exhausting hour and you will want at least two days of rest to recover from this workout before doing it again.

If you are not chasing watts, it’s much more sustainable to do 70 watts for two hours. You can probably do this every day.

	▲	malfist 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		This exactly. FTP is functional threshold power, it's the maximum you can physically maintain in zone 4 heart rate for 40-60 minutes and it's physically exhausting. This is hard work, hardest work honestly. If you have gas left in the tank after you could had a higher FTP. I'll get out on the bike and do a zone 4 workout and keep a steady state of 180-200 watts through the first 20-30 minutes, by the end of the hour or hour and a half of my workout, even with breaks to break, reset heart rate, have some water, salt and glucose, I'm down to 120-150 watts at the end of the ride. Basically, you can probably charge your macbook at peek power for an hour every other day, or every day for a short while if you're okay with burning out eventually. Expect to need to eat 400-600 calories and a lot of water each time you do this.

▲

kccqzy 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I just rode with an untrained cyclist (new to cycling) yesterday. The person averaged 80W over five hours. It’s about right for an actual untrained cyclist.

▲

markb139 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

My best is 980W - for 1 second

	▲	rootusrootus an hour ago \| parent [-]
		That's solid. If my memory is correct, and my teachers were correct (both of these are suspect) back in high school, a human should be able to momentarily exert about 1 horsepower at maximum effort. We did an experiment on how much power we could output at maximum effort. We tested it by sprinting up some number of flights of stairs, and timing it. As I recall we did conclude that in round numbers the hypothesis was correct. But that was 35 years ago and it was a high school physics experiment meant to be entertaining more than precise.

▲

iamacyborg 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

And a good sprinter can make some toast!

▲

eurekin 5 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm still sour they had only one toast in, in a two slot toaster

▲

mech998877 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I've had the same thought and it's been a topic I've been this close to talking about at parties. If I did I'm sure I'd bore everyone to death.

Considering the difficulty of sustaining 700 watts vs 350 watts, we could've had some very well-burnt toast if they uninstalled the heating coils for the 2nd piece of bread!

	▲	Aachen 4 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I thought toasters took ~1.6 kW, just like any other resistive heating device (space heater, oil-filled radiator, microwave oven, oven oven, hairdryer, kettle, under-sink water heater: it's allways 1500-1850W!) except for the ones on special circuits (shower, stove). Turns out, our toaster draws 850W! While watching the video, I was wondering how they modified the >1kW device to produce a toasted toast in that short amount of time (I guess you could substitute instantaneous power for time up to a point, but the video wasn't that long), thinking maybe they removed one of the sides' circuits. Now I'm disappointed as well. Thanks xD
	▲	4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		[deleted]

▲

imoverclocked 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Woah there, gotta watch that waistline! :)