noob to cubing

[mattman]

im still kinda new to speedcubing and ive shaved more than a minute off my time by lubing my cube with petroleum jelly and learning some finger tricks now ive gotten my average down to 93.45 seconds but i want to learn a way to solve faster im still using the noob method... the LBL method
the fridrich method seems like it would work but it looks like theres way too many algs to learn...over 60 so im tryin to find another way to do it....can someone tell me another way i can learn to solve a cube?

 

[Lotsofsloths]

Petrus, and Fredrich isn;t soooo bad, i dont use whole fredrich(i dont know all olls and plls) but i still get around 40ish 31s my best time

 

[masterofthebass]

I just did an avg the other day of LBL method. I could avg around 35 with it. It just takes practice. When you feel like you feel really comfortable with cubing in general, I would start moving to a better method, if you want.

 

[mattman]

do you think petr. jelly works for lube... its workin good for me so far but im gonna try silicone spray soon. as soon as i get some. what do you think is better
whats petrus? is it easier than fredrich? im prolly gonna learn some of fredrich. just the things im slow at with LBL.
you play bass? me too.

 

[ExoCorsair]

First of all, it's "Fridrich" (or CFOP).

Secondly, I think Petrus is way overrated by slower speedsolvers; lower move counts don't always mean faster times.

Thirdly, Petrus is the system in which you build a 2x2 block, extend it to a 2x2x3 block.

Fourthly, petroleum jelly does work as lubricant; that is how some people lubed cubes 'back in the day'.

Fifthly, it can't hurt to type more legibly and to use the search function; I am quite certain that all of your questions have been asked and answered before.

 

[Theromy]

I learn't Fridrich at about 1:20 pb. I know roux and petrus, but my times with them are slower than with Fridrich.

If you feel you've almost mastered the LBL method I'd say move on to a move advance method, preferably Fridrich since it's so widely used and you can achieve world record times with it.

I lubed my old cube with petroleum jelly, now I can't even do finger tricks on it it's so waxy. I'd advise you to get a nice new cube and use silicon spray to lube. www.cube4you.com is a good place to get decent cubes.

 

[clincher]

If you feel you've almost mastered the LBL method I'd say move on to a move advance method, preferably Fridrich since it's so widely used and you can achieve world record times with it.
.

He has clearly not mastered, not even close to mastering it, the LBL method I'd say stick with LBL a little more.
When you get times like one minute then you can move on.
For F2L is not necessary to learn algs. The minimum of algs you have to learn I think it's 16 to have:cross, F2L, and a 4LLL.

 

[chue.hsien]

i changed to fridrich around 2 weeks after my average was 55..

 

[Johannes91]

I knew a LBL method before Petrus, and my best times were slightly below 2 minutes I think. If you want to learn a new method then go for it, if you don't then don't. Questions like "when should I learn X", where X could be a new method or a set of algs, don't really make sense to me.

I think Petrus is way overrated by slower speedsolvers; lower move counts don't always mean faster times.

Maybe so, but it's also underrated by Fridrich speedsolvers; lower move counts don't always mean that you need to think more and get slower times.

And there are also many speedcubers who use Petrus or Roux but use way more moves than needed, even some tutorials are quite badly done.

So the method doesn't really matter, unless you are very good.

 

[DarkArcher]

I suggest that you get to at least 1 min with your beginner method before moving on to learning PLL or F2L (either 1 first), then OLL.

 

[ExoCorsair]

I think Petrus is way overrated by slower speedsolvers; lower move counts don't always mean faster times.

Maybe so, but it's also underrated by Fridrich speedsolvers; lower move counts don't always mean that you need to think more and get slower times.

That is very true.

 

[dboeren]

I've just started doing the beginner method less than 2 weeks ago and it generally takes me 35-40 seconds for the first layer+cross. Doing the rest of the 2nd layer is about another 30-35 seconds. Then, solving the last layer is about 50-55 seconds. So the total time is about 2 minutes or a little over.

Any suggestions on which part of the solve I should be concentrating on improving at this point?

I feel like orienting the 4 corners at the last step is really time consuming, is there a better way to do this than having to keep doing R' D' R D over and over? I've seen other pages description of the "Beginner Method" that seem to do the LL in a different order that how I learned it, so maybe that's the issue... The order that I learned for the LL is to form the cross, permute the edges, permute the corners, then orient the corners.

 

[amateurguy]

I'm a fellow newbie too! How long have you been cubing anyway? Remember to not put over-expectations on yourself! Don't expect to suddenly jump straight from 2 mins to sub 1-mins within 3 weeks. Practice and your fingers will sort of warm up to the cube. The time will improve in little leaps. I don't know why. My time never improves gradually, but always in leaps.

Dboeren, have you tried Jasmine Lee's beginner's approach? peter.stillhq.com/jasmine/rubikscubesolution.html

Ok, there is a tiiiiiny bit of memorization required, but it's fairly easy if you practice as it basically compiles the easiest algorithms around into one neat solution guide. Within a week or so, they will become second nature. This will most probably up your LL times! I personally use this method (with my own tiny tweaks).

Do you solve the 1st layer corners and the 2nd layer edges with the cross at the bottom? If you don't, I recommend that too (After you get used to the method above of course. One thing at a time!). Sure, your time will slow down temporarily because of the sudden change in orientation. But believe me, just by replacing the D/D' turns to become U/U' turns (therefore allowing some faster fingertricks) your 2-minute barrier can be broken down!

Good luck!

 

[dboeren]

I'm a fellow newbie too! How long have you been cubing anyway? Practice and your fingers will sort of warm up to the cube. The time will improve in little leaps. I don't know why. My time never improves gradually, but always in leaps.

Almost 3 weeks now, so still fairly new. I'm 35 and work a full time job, so I don't get to do that many solves per day. So, I realize that progress will be slower. I'm improving though, my best time is now 1:45 for a non-lucky solve.

Dboeren, have you tried Jasmine Lee's beginner's approach?

Ok, there is a tiiiiiny bit of memorization required, but it's fairly easy if you practice as it basically compiles the easiest algorithms around into one neat solution guide. Within a week or so, they will become second nature. This will most probably up your LL times! I personally use this method (with my own tiny tweaks).

Yes, it's a good tutorial and I'm starting to learn his LL stuff. There really isn't that much memorization but the steps occur in a different order which I need to get used to.

I think everyone collects a few tiny tweaks along the way, especially since the Beginner's Method often leaves out little optimizations in the interest of simplicity.

Do you solve the 1st layer corners and the 2nd layer edges with the cross at the bottom? If you don't, I recommend that too (After you get used to the method above of course. One thing at a time!). Sure, your time will slow down temporarily because of the sudden change in orientation. But believe me, just by replacing the D/D' turns to become U/U' turns (therefore allowing some faster fingertricks) your 2-minute barrier can be broken down!

I have heard this, though I'm not sure why it is so significant. Is it because of the fingertricking, or the better visibility to the unsolved cubies? Right now I'm solving the cross on top and then turning the cube over. Last night I saw Mao's video where he solves the FL edges on top and then moves them to the bottom which was intriguing so I'm going to try to use that and move to doing the FL on the bottom.

Thanks for your suggestions. My next steps are to work on learning the JasmineLee LL algorithms (and recognizing the 7 cases) and to try to solve the cross on the bottom of the cube in the manner shown in Mao's video. I really like the idea that you only have to get the 4 edges on top and not have to care what sides they are on. That should make it quite a bit simpler.

Side note: If anyone is starting out and using a store-bought cube I highly recommend picking up one of the DIY cubes that can be obtained from puzzleproz or cube4you. They are much smoother and easier to turn, and unless you got lucky it's very difficult to do any fingertricks with a store-bought cube. The one you want is the A type if there are multiple choices. Also, pick up some of the silicone lube. cubelube.com sells it, or puzzleproz does as well. I got their deal where they give you free lube with the purchase of two DIY cubes. If you're only getting one, I've heard from a couple people that they think the white cube is the smoothest and I found that to be true with mine as well. Consider using an exacto type blade to trim down any seams where the plastic was molded, it's worth the couple minutes of effort.

 

[amateurguy]

Glad to hear that! And getting sub-2 minutes in 3 weeks is actually VERY good!

I turn the cube over after the cross is done too. It is for both the reasons you have stated. I can do some fingertricking on the top face rather than doing some awkward D/D' moves and there's more visibility. This means while executing some instinctive algorithm, I get to look ahead for other cubies to do my next move, cutting down delays. When you start to delay less and less between each algorithm, you're on your way!