Older cubers discussions

[mark49152]

Am I right in thinking 5bld is roughly 5 x 3BLD.

Closer to 4x. I use four rooms - X-centres, T-centres, wings, and midges/corners sharing one room. These are the same rooms I use for MBLD, one cube each. Centres and wings are typically about 18-22 targets so very similar size memo to an MBLD cube.

Memo is trickier and execution more fiddly though, so I'd say it's harder than a 4-cube MBLD.

 

[newtonbase]

Closer to 4x. I use four rooms - X-centres, T-centres, wings, and midges/corners sharing one room. These are the same rooms I use for MBLD, one cube each. Centres and wings are typically about 18-22 targets so very similar size memo to an MBLD cube.

Memo is trickier and execution more fiddly though, so I'd say it's harder than a 4-cube MBLD.

In my sleep deprived, MBLD addled brain I calculated 8 sets of centre pieces!
5BLD doesn't sound terribly scary but I still haven't had a proper go at 4BLD. I'm off with the kids all next week so can't see that I'll be able to do any MBLD. Maybe it's the right opportunity to work on 4BLD.

 

[pglewis]

Got a 24.78 single PB! (I did jump out of my chair a bit when that happened). Also 34.92 ao5 and 36.44 ao12

Whoa, that's insane given your update from two days ago . I've been on the "slow but steady" track, averaging mid to upper 40s back in Sept. I think you've wrapped up the same progress I've made over 4-5 months in the past two days. I'm averaging roughly 32-33 with sights on mid 20s soon. You'll have passed me by the weekend .

 

[pglewis]

15 minute 5BLD DNF, would have been PB. Twisted the final corner the wrong way. Arrgghh!

That's just cruel.

 

[pglewis]

I've realized I have to spam my OLLs and PLLs too. My TPS sucks during LL.

I've started tracking alg times in my spreadsheet for some of the PLLs last night to get a baseline, keeping in mind these are all my best efforts out of probably a dozen+ attempts per. Few sub 2 at my best and it does not take much to sink to 4-5 seconds or worse. It would probably be on the rare side for me to do any particular one this fast which is likely the difference between my mid 20s and my rarer low 20s.

H: 2.08
Z: 2.53
Ua: 1.6
Ub: 1.87
E: 2.24
Y: 2.28
T: 2.24
F: 3.08
Ja: 2.23
Jb: 2.18

Those are my fastest ones, too, I'd expect most of the remainder to be sup 3 at the very best right now. There's pay dirt to be had.

[edit: baseline for the rest]

Na: 2.98 (start already z'ed)
Nb: 3.24
V: 2.38 (start already z'ed)
Aa: 2.35
Ab: 2.34
Ra: 3.08
Rb: 2.55
Ga: 2.46
Gb: 2.47
Gc: 3.01
Gd: 2.61

 

[mafergut]

Too busy at work these days and without tapatalk I can't check the forum too often. Congrats on all those PBs! Very interesting posts about how to deal with certain F2L cases (giving me some nice ideas to try).

I received my Yan3. First impression was bad, plastic looked bad quality and unpolished and the cube felt lockier than the Valk3. But after a few solves it started to grow on me and I kind of liked how well it flowed... Thenm after like an Ao50 or so it started to break in and felt less stable so my turning got more inaccurate.

Conclusion: very nice cube for the price. It also seems like a very good option for magnetizing as it would mitigate the instability, leaving me with a cube that just flows very nice. Thinking about buying some magnets for an easter vacaction project.

I also received the CB G6 but I have not solved it yet. I will give my 1st impressions over the weekend when I have more time to play with it. At first glance outer layers turn nice but inner slices not so much, also inner slice misalignment, even if minimal, generate lockups on the outer layers. Also size is a bit big for my taste. All in all I think it deserves an opportunity and certainly does not feel bad at all for the price.

 

[Jason Green]

Ao5 PB: 15.321 ...done in the WC, maybe a bit of pressure is not bad.

Hey I thought you were letting me stay ahead on averages. Good job!

Is that your first sub-25s single? Congratulations.

Feel free to take part in the weekly Race to Sub-30 in the Forum Competitions. That helped me focus on reducing my average during 2016 to the extent I ended up taking over running the thread.

The races are great! They really helped me from over 30 down to sub 20. I haven't been participating in the sub 15 race because I still rarely go sub 15 though.

 

[mafergut]

First impressions on the CB G6.

It was a bit too tight out of the box so I unscrewed it a quarter turn on each face and it improved a bit. When perfectly aligned outer layers are quite light to turn but any minor misalignment can cause it to lock and, in the end, even though I get more or less the same times as with the Yuxin it leaves me very, very tired after just a couple of solves.

At these tight tensions it does not have any of those weird piece misalignments / lockups between layers as other puzzles do. Maybe I should try to loosen it up another quarter turn and see what happens (it will probably pop).

Nice puzzle but I don't think it's on par with the current top cubes from Moyu, Qiyi and Yuxin.

EDIT: By the way, I ordered a pack of 50 N35 4mmx2mm for the Yan3. In fact I ordered from two different places. magnets365 and ebay. ebay was just 1 €, magnets365 was $5. Let's see which ones arrive first and if there is any difference in quality.

 

[One Wheel]

First impressions on the CB G6.

It was a bit too tight out of the box so I unscrewed it a quarter turn on each face and it improved a bit. When perfectly aligned outer layers are quite light to turn but any minor misalignment can cause it to lock and, in the end, even though I get more or less the same times as with the Yuxin it leaves me very, very tired after just a couple of solves.

At these tight tensions it does not have any of those weird piece misalignments / lockups between layers as other puzzles do. Maybe I should try to loosen it up another quarter turn and see what happens (it will probably pop).

Nice puzzle but I don't think it's on par with the current top cubes from Moyu, Qiyi and Yuxin.

EDIT: By the way, I ordered a pack of 50 N35 4mmx2mm for the Yan3. In fact I ordered from two different places. magnets365 and ebay. ebay was just 1 €, magnets365 was $5. Let's see which ones arrive first and if there is any difference in quality.

Would the inner structure of the pieces of the G6 be conducive to inserting magnets? I think I'm going to do my Aoshi and mini Aosu first, and probably try a Wuji and a galaxy megaminx after that, but if those work I might try another 6x6.

 

[mafergut]

Would the inner structure of the pieces of the G6 be conducive to inserting magnets? I think I'm going to do my Aoshi and mini Aosu first, and probably try a Wuji and a galaxy megaminx after that, but if those work I might try another 6x6.

I can't even imagine how magnets would do any good to a 6x6, in case they fitted in the pieces, which I really doubt. I think for the magnets to really help aligning the layers the cube would have to be so loose that it would just explode every few turns.

 

[One Wheel]

I can't even imagine how magnets would do any good to a 6x6, in case they fitted in the pieces, which I really doubt. I think for the magnets to really help aligning the layers the cube would have to be so loose that it would just explode every few turns.

4x2mm fits in the corners and outer wings of my Aoshi. I had to get 3x1 mm magnets to go along the inner slice, which will work out because those have to be doubled anyway. As far as effectiveness, I think it could be very effective for helping to maintain cube shape, especially in the 3x3 stage. It could be a complete flop, but I'm happy with the 2 3x3s I've magnetized, and I've heard good things about 4x4s and 5x5s that people have done. I'm going to give it a shot, we'll see what happens.

 

[mafergut]

4x2mm fits in the corners and outer wings of my Aoshi. I had to get 3x1 mm magnets to go along the inner slice, which will work out because those have to be doubled anyway. As far as effectiveness, I think it could be very effective for helping to maintain cube shape, especially in the 3x3 stage. It could be a complete flop, but I'm happy with the 2 3x3s I've magnetized, and I've heard good things about 4x4s and 5x5s that people have done. I'm going to give it a shot, we'll see what happens.

Yeah, sure, go ahead and tell us how it goes. You see, I said I wouldn't do it but now I'm gonna make a magnetic Yan3 myself By the way, after solving with it for 1 day now my Vallk3 seems sluggish and super stable in comparison.

 

[pglewis]

Yeah, sure, go ahead and tell us how it goes. You see, I said I wouldn't do it but now I'm gonna make a magnetic Yan3 myself By the way, after solving with it for 1 day now my Vallk3 seems sluggish and super stable in comparison.

I continue to wrestle with the sluggish Valk syndrome. I did a full break-down and full cleaning of my stickerless last week, complete with q-tips, to get the gunk out. Reassembled and only put 2 drops of Silk in and worked it in. It was incredible. About six hours of solving later and it had slowed again. I think it's just the nature of the cube that it slows up with any gunking at all. My Thunderclaps are probably a wreck with gunk but they don't seem to care, with months between cleanings. A couple drops of Maru in the Valk helps; it might be a smidge too fast for me on the first solve or three then it's right where I want it for a session.

This is all keeping in mind that I'm trending towards a light turning style and currently like a fast, light cube. Ironically, it was the Valk's feel out of the box that sent me this direction. It's still mostly a minor "flaw" to me where others might think mine is fine or even fast. I still reach for it most when I'm serious about setting a PB and it is responsible for most of my best PLL times I collected the past couple days.

 

[pglewis]

Ra was probably the most unexpected result of my PLL baseline. It's one of my oldest established PLLs and my perception was it was above average... certainly not among my slowest. Mine has been the primary 2H one @Logiqx lists: R U R' F' R U2 R' U2 R' F R U R U2 R' U'. I had difficulty making it flow well with the placement of the three U2s, when I broke it down on a micro-level. I decided to consider a replacement and the OH version he lists may be perfect: R U' R' U' R U R D R' U' R D' R' U2' R' U'. I think I can really make that one flow well and I'll wager I can do it faster than the old one a week from now. Surprise agenda item.

 

[mark49152]

@pglewis, that's almost the one I use, except the inverse - try it, I like it better. For the other R perm I use the front/back mirror.

 

[pglewis]

@pglewis, that's almost the one I use, except the inverse - try it, I like it better. For the other R perm I use the front/back mirror.

Took me a moment of scratching my head before the light bulb came on, "dude, R is its own inverse" lol. Sure, I'll try that one on for size when I sit down tonight, no time like the present.

Not sure I understand how to do the front/back mirror for Rb but that one is under scrutiny as well. I've been using a head-lights front alg and I'm considering swapping as many as possible to headlights left.

 

[Shaky Hands]

and the OH version he lists may be perfect: R U' R' U' R U R D R' U' R D' R' U2' R' U'

That's what I use for 2H Ra. And also for BLD.

 

[h2f]

R U' R' U' R U R D R' U' R D' R' U2' R' U'.

except the inverse - try it, I like it better.

Yeah, I use it but i've never checked the inverse. Looks fine.

 

[JanW]

Mine has been the primary 2H one @Logiqx lists: R U R' F' R U2 R' U2 R' F R U R U2 R' U'. I had difficulty making it flow well with the placement of the three U2s, when I broke it down on a micro-level. I decided to consider a replacement and the OH version he lists may be perfect: R U' R' U' R U R D R' U' R D' R' U2' R' U'.

I use the OH version for 2H as well.

I am curious why both of those has a U' at the end. In practice that would only apply if you align the U face correctly and rotate the cube before performing PLL, which most likely is not the case. Besides, if you were going to do that, you would align it and rotate the cube so that the U' isn't needed. I guess it's listed in those algs for some kind of practice reason, to be able to set up and immediately solve with the same alg, but this seems very counter productive to me. No point teaching your fingers to perform unnecessary moves at the end of the alg.

 

[mark49152]

@JanW you are correct, just ignore the U', especially if doing the inverse