dagosa, a strong guy can actually put pretty good torque on the bicycle pedals…What is lacking is the RPM. A ZX-9 Kawasaki Ninja engine probably doesn’t generate any more torque than a good cyclist with a well-fitted bike, but the Ninja engine can generate that torque at 11,000 RPM.
200 lb on a bike pedal with 7 in crank is 200 * 7 / 12 = 117 ft-lb
but that’s peak, not average around a whole revolution
that and maybe 60-90 rpm.
Still think that torque and hp have little relation-because a motor will pull down to lug and still move a heavy-loadbut not very fast .Some owners manuals warn you you against using the starter motor to get out of a hole, because the starter motor has enough torque to break something-Kevin
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” Mark Twain
One of the first things when trying to understand the torque, HP relationship is to stop trying to draw useful conclusions from what they look like in specific applications. Torque and horsepower are related but very different measurements. Torque is a measure of force.
This is the relationship
HP=Torque (ft-lbs)RPM/5252
Another way
Torque (ft-lbs)=HP5252/RPM
Whether you are dragging 80K lbs over the Rockies of pushing a F1 car through the air at 240MPH it is the force (torque) at the rear wheels that gets the job done. Torque can be multiplied (or divided) with different gear ratios. The power remains the same. If you are willing to make the effort torque at the rear wheels can be derived from pressure on the pistons through the crankshaft, transmission, rear axle, and tire diameter, subtracting losses along the way.
Whenever you are given torque @ rpm you can calculate the HP at that rpm. When you are given HP @ rpm you can calculate the torque at that rpm.
Using HP or torque to compare engines designed for different purposes doesn’t accomplish much, but it is pretty safe to say a 1000hp Shelby Mustang will be faster that a 650 HP Mustang.