[Member Intro] Hey hey.

[RonM]

Relatively new (speed) cuber here for introduction.

I'm 28 years old and first learned to solve in the 7th Grade when my science teacher offered an A for the semester to anyone who could solve the cube in his 45 minute class period. It took me two months before I was ready, but I eventually managed to pull my grade from a solid F to an A.

Fast forward 15 years, or rewind three weeks, I'm at Walmart and run across a Rubik's 2.0 scrambled in the box on the shelf. The tiny amount of OCD I possess has me opening the package, solving the cross, then the corners, the middle edge pieces and then struggling through the beginner's method for the last layer as I distractedly roam the aisles. This cube turns so much easier and faster than the one I remember from 7th grade and the older Rubik's I happened across on my life journey so far. Fast forward ten minutes and the cube is solved and I'm on my way to checkout with it and thoroughly pleased with myself.

Fast forward a week and I've switched from the beginner's method to learning F2L and 4LLL.

4LLL is by far the easier of the two to learn. After I finish cementing the "Headlights" oll into memory I'll have finished memorizing all of 4LLL! F2L on the other hand... is definitely my weakest spot.

I have horrible look ahead, but that's probably because I switched from solving a green cross to solving a white cross (the green cross was too hard to see when watching TV/Movies at night) so my recognition is likely going to suffer until I'm done adjusting. That and since I'm new to F2L it's hard for me to pair and insert pieces without actually watching the pieces I'm working with; some cases I can do blind, but the more tedious cases take up a lot more brain power and more moves than I would like.

Still I can see the benefits of F2L and 4-LLL. In the last week my ao12 has dropped from 1:54.71 to 1:22 (sub-90, woo!) and my PB from 1:30ish to 62.27. I have you guys, reddit and YT to thank for that!

Anyway... my apologies the intro got so long! /end

 

[pglewis]

I learned how to solve on an original Rubik's brand back in the early 80s but hadn't messed with it much since, until the recent resurgence brought me into contact with cubes fairly frequently again. I got into speedsolving a year ago and F2L and lookahead are still my main areas for improvement and likely will be another year from now. I'm much quicker at picking up theory and algs than developing my lookahead, but at least I'm stubborn. Sounds like you're on a good track, welcome [back] to the hobby.

 

[Isaac VM]

Hello RonM!

Welcome to the forums!!!

 

[unirox13]

I'll tell you the same thing I say to every new, older, cuber. Please explore other methods of solving the cube! That little plastic puzzle has so many ways of being solved. Don't let the way you originally learned how to do it restrain you. Since you are just getting back into the solving community, you'd be amazed at how much has been figured out about that little plastic toy. Please, research, and make sure that CFOP is the solving method for you.

 

[JustinTimeCuber]

Hey hey hey! Welcome to the forums!

 

[RonM]

Thank you guys for your kind replies!

I learned how to solve on an original Rubik's brand back in the early 80s but hadn't messed with it much since, until the recent resurgence brought me into contact with cubes fairly frequently again. I got into speedsolving a year ago and F2L and lookahead are still my main areas for improvement and likely will be another year from now. I'm much quicker at picking up theory and algs than developing my lookahead, but at least I'm stubborn. Sounds like you're on a good track, welcome [back] to the hobby.

It's reassuring to hear that F2L look-ahead is still an area of improvement for you, especially since you're obviously an "older" cuber like myself. I really can't imagine trying to speed solve on an old rubik's cube though! I'm sitting here imagining it would be like doing heavy cardio training in the mountains compared to just jogging on the street LOL.

I'll tell you the same thing I say to every new, older, cuber. Please explore other methods of solving the cube! That little plastic puzzle has so many ways of being solved. Don't let the way you originally learned how to do it restrain you. Since you are just getting back into the solving community, you'd be amazed at how much has been figured out about that little plastic toy. Please, research, and make sure that CFOP is the solving method for you.

That's really good advice and I spent most of yesterday familiarizing myself with roux and a little petrus -- petrus was easiest for me since I could transition straight into 4LLL after solving the f2l and correcting edges; but I'm going to wait until I have a better quality cube (for those M slices) before coming to a final decision between roux vs petrus vs cfop.