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| Thin fit cyclists go faster for further - that's kilo-Watts. |
WE have finally found a use for weekender mountainbikers: they can
help us explain why engine power is shown as “torques” and kilo-Watts.
We all know them — those people who spent lots on a hardcore
mountain bike, which they then mostly park in the bedroom. Next time you are
trapped behind one, watch the thighs.
Torque is the combined power made by length of the lever and the
size of the force pressing down on it, or in plain English: fat cyclists with
thick thighs can pedal much harderthan thin cyclists.
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| Fat cyclists can always push the pedal harder that's "torques". |
Kilo-Watts shows the rate at which energy is transmitted. In plain
speak: it tells you how fast the parts can move before the forces at play will
break things. While thin, fit cyclists cannot pedal as hard as us fatties, they
can pedal faster for much longer without stretching something or gasping for
air.
An engine’s torque then, shows you how big the engine’s muscles
are, and the Watts tell you how fit the engine is. You cannot have one without
the other, but in a truck, you want more torgues, in a sportscar, more
Watts.
