Progression & DIY?

[Zaxef]

Here's my progression since I started timing myself (after I felt comfortable with F2L)

As of today I know 2 Look OLL and Full PLL except for G perms (learned N's yesterday and today.. working on it )

Best time / Average Time / Date

42.65 / 52.40 / Feb 11
37.93 / 47.50 / Feb 17
31.04 / 44.79 / Feb 20
32.36 / 40.00 / Feb 25
?? / 39.83 / Feb 28
30.87 / 37.97 / Mar 3
29.32 / 39.02 / Mar 11
29.82 / 36.09 / Mar 15
29.42 / 34.72 / Mar 16
28.64, 27.32, 27.17, 24.43 / 32.09 / Mar 23 (Was a good day lol )
24.54 / 31.58 / Mar 27

I want to be sub 30, around 27 second average at the two month mark..
Thing is.. I'm still using my storebought Rubik's cube, it's lubed but it still locks up quite often, and I find myself not being able to do the finger tricks I'm confident I can do.. Because they do work sometimes.

So, my question..
Is sub-27 or even sub-25 a good goal for April 11th~ish, and should I look at buying a DIY cube? How much do they really improve your times?

I was thinking of getting the new type A from cube4you if I do get a DIY
This one

**EDIT**
I'd like to add this little bit of info..
I decided to time my F2L (blindly solve cross then start timing when I open my eyes and stop when F2L is finished)
The results are;
12: 00:19.54
11: 00:18.50
10: 00:20.71
9: 00:17.20
8: 00:20.50
7: 00:20.57
6: 00:17.26
5: 00:14.73
4: 00:12.32
3: 00:15.79
2: 00:18.82
1: 00:12.18

That seems really fast considering my times.. My crosses are fairly quick at 5-6 seconds at the most..
Am I slow on OLL and PLL? (Again.. 2 Look OLL and full PLL except for G Perms)

Opinions?

 

[PeterNewton]

if you have siliconed it and it locks up, add a few sprays of white lithium.
and doesnt that A3 diy have vulnerable edges?

 

[Zaxef]

if you have siliconed it and it locks up, add a few sprays of white lithium.
and doesnt that A3 diy have vulnerable edges?

I heard it works fine if you just super glue the little edge pieces in.. the "caps" or whatever you want to call them..
I don't think anything will help at this point.. it's been broken in beyond recognition, the stickers are peeling and it's getting pretty loose..
I guess I don't really have a choice lol >_>

 

[PeterNewton]

if you have siliconed it and it locks up, add a few sprays of white lithium.
and doesnt that A3 diy have vulnerable edges?

I heard it works fine if you just super glue the little edge pieces in.. the "caps" or whatever you want to call them..
I don't think anything will help at this point.. it's been broken in beyond recognition, the stickers are peeling and it's getting pretty loose..
I guess I don't really have a choice lol >_>

stickers can always be replaced. but if you feel that the storebought is really that bad, go get a diy.
i have felt almost every type of diy from my friends (but never seen the insides, so i am having identification trouble now with my own arrived order), and my storebought rubik's is the best i ever used.

 

[Zaxef]

if you have siliconed it and it locks up, add a few sprays of white lithium.
and doesnt that A3 diy have vulnerable edges?

I heard it works fine if you just super glue the little edge pieces in.. the "caps" or whatever you want to call them..
I don't think anything will help at this point.. it's been broken in beyond recognition, the stickers are peeling and it's getting pretty loose..
I guess I don't really have a choice lol >_>

stickers can always be replaced. but if you feel that the storebought is really that bad, go get a diy.
i have felt almost every type of diy from my friends (but never seen the insides, so i am having identification trouble now with my own arrived order), and my storebought rubik's is the best i ever used.

You get lucky sometimes I guess.. Same with the storebought 4x4s.. Mine is a piece of crap.. It locks up like every single turn :/

 

[Lord Voldemort]

So, my question..
Is sub-27 or even sub-25 a good goal for April 11th~ish, and should I look at buying a DIY cube? How much do they really improve your times?

My DIY didn't improve my times by very much...
Maybe a second or so at most. But my store bought was pretty good.
Sub 27 might be a reasonable goal by April 11.
But sub-25? I doubt it. Unless you practice a lot, then maybe.

 

[Zaxef]

So, my question..
Is sub-27 or even sub-25 a good goal for April 11th~ish, and should I look at buying a DIY cube? How much do they really improve your times?

My DIY didn't improve my times by very much...
Maybe a second or so at most. But my store bought was pretty good.
Sub 27 might be a reasonable goal by April 11.
But sub-25? I doubt it. Unless you practice a lot, then maybe.

I think it's reasonable just because my Megaminx has been improving my F2L.. and I can nearly solve the cube color neutrally now because of all the colors on the minx

 

[Lord Voldemort]

I took almost a month after I get my first sub-32 to when I got consistent sub 25s.
But I don’t practice as much as a lot of people here, so maybe you’ll be able to do it.

 

[Zaxef]

I took almost a month after I get my first sub-32 to when I got consistent sub 25s.
But I don’t practice as much as a lot of people here, so maybe you’ll be able to do it.

You think sub-27/8ish is possible with 2 Look OLL and Full PLL?
Considering my F2L times above?
Maybe if I got more 12-14s ones and less 20s

 

[Lord Voldemort]

I got to Sub-25 with 3LLL, so there's no reason you can't.
Just work on the F2L. The OLLs really don't help your times very much, only about 2 seconds of LL improvement over however much time it takes to learn 45+ algorithms. If you learn 10 a week, that's 2 seconds spread out over month. I think you can easily do that in pure F2L improvement.

EDIT: You should include cross in the F2L times.
F2L is a step in Fridrich, but when most people talk about their F2L times, they mean the whole first two layers. You want to get cross + F2L times down to 17-19 seconds with 3LLL.

 

[JLarsen]

Agreed. I've seen sub 20 with 2LOLL.

 

[CubeThing]

I know I havent got a sub minute time yet, but i do love my rubiks storebought.
I dont know if i just got lucky and got a good one or if they are all like mine. All i have done to it is lubricate with general purpose silicone. Its really smooth, cuts corners, it still locks up but they are only minor and pops NEVER occur. Whenever the cube starts to get bigger and more annoying lock ups I just apply more silicone (just a bit) and its fine again.
I have heard good things about CubeForYou Brand speedcubes. I know MonkeyDude1313 is a fan.

 

[holypasta]

the following is a quote from badmephisto's website, in the FAQ section.

Q: I've been cubing for X months, and my average is Y. Is this good? (X and Y are numbers)

A: This question has no good answer. It depends primarily on how much practice you had, and even if you tell me, I won't be able to say.

 

[Zaxef]

the following is a quote from badmephisto's website, in the FAQ section.

Q: I've been cubing for X months, and my average is Y. Is this good? (X and Y are numbers)

A: This question has no good answer. It depends primarily on how much practice you had, and even if you tell me, I won't be able to say.

I'm aware - I've read the whole site.
I was more curious to know if people thought sub 30 and 27-28s average was possible by April 11th