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Olympic Cyclist Vs. Toaster: Can He Power It?

The Toaster Challenge · demo · Watch on YouTube

Sports & athleticsEveryday physics & science demos

What it is

Olympic track cyclist Robert Forstemann tries to pedal hard enough to power a 700 W toaster and toast a slice of bread. The film frames it as a comparison of how much energy people consume versus how much they can generate.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN uses it as a vivid illustration of how little sustained power a human body produces, even a champion's.

  • 3 people recommended it
  • 2 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2015, last 2023

What HN commenters said

  1. “Here's a neat video of an olympic cycle sprinter powering a toaster”

    Neat demo of a sprinter powering a toaster.

    michaelt, 2020-10 · Recommendation · in “Use Your Bike as a Backup to Your Backup Power Supply”

  2. “olympic (cyclist) sprinter powering a toaster! it's intense.”

    Intense toaster-powering sprint.

    virtue3, 2020-10 · Recommendation · in “Use Your Bike as a Backup to Your Backup Power Supply”

  3. “Anyway, worth the look”

    Impressive effort showing the scale gap of human power.

    toss1, 2022-10 · Recommendation · in “Mechanical Induction Cooker (2015)”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: cycling, energy, toaster, human power, olympic athlete

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