Older cubers discussions

[h2f]

4th ao50 sub19 in a row. Im getting closer and closer.

 

[mitja]

It's my main and has been since the Gans 356. It is also what my latest PB is on, I can't remember if my previous PB was on the Gans or not, it was over 4 months. I would definitely recommend it, although I do want to try the Valk. And I think the GTS would be great for a lot of people too. Some of my algs feel faster on the GTS but I just can't control it as well.

Well, i have all of the fast ones now. I have two daughters that speedcube too, so i order and we try to see what fits mine or theirs turning style.
About GTS
I first bought white. It was amazing - stable, really good cube. I am cubin only for 18 months now after 30 years pause. When my doughters(11&12)found my old cubes at my mothers house that i used in 1981, I got hooked again. After 30 years, cubes are very different. This year and a half moyu aolong v2 was the one ( with old plastic). Really good cube, makes you work correctly.
Sorry back to weilong. I bought later a black premium one at cubicle. It felt like a disaster , very unstable. Maybe I felt that way just because the white one was so much better. I opened both of them and found out that the white one is slightly different( some plastic is on the screws instead on center pieces). I switched the springs and the core , but it didnt help( didnt switch the center pieces as they would be white on black). Anyway they are not the same and I dont like white background.

With Gans 356s you know the story. It just doesn't hold shape well. Whathever setting, (loosening the corners...) I believe Gans plastic gives you the most pleasing feeling for turning . It also doesn't feel cheap, or to say it mildly, fragile.
Valk3 feels a bit cheap, like a toy and it is fast. Not shure yet, but way too fast. Dont know how to slow it down. Even with lots of traxsas it is fast. If you tighten the screws it becomes strange as the springs get too tight. For now it feels too fast.
So we are all using mostly yuexiao. It has all , just amazing cube. I managed to set it right. Very stable cube. I like it for 3BLD also.

These days Gans air arrived. I hear about locking problems. Well I just set it right. If I want stability I use red or orange springs. If i use yellow it feels like Valk, but i dont like it.
If set up right, gans air is stable, controlable, high quality plastic, beautifull cube. Absolutely no lockups.
I play with these cubes because I can, but if I am honest aolong v2 is more then enough to satisfy anybody, the rest is just being spoiled
I am becoming 49 this year and my times are in 21-28 seconds. In a few weeks i will join my daughter in first int. Competition to get WCA statistics and most of all to enjoy.

 

[h2f]

In a few weeks i will join my daughter in first int. Competition to get WCA statistics and most of all to enjoy.

Good luck!

 

[defhacks]

Just got back from my first comp, and thanks to everyone in the thread who has exuberantly recommended going in the past.
It was awesome! On the comp side, had a lovely mix of nerves and good results.

Sharing and comparing cubes at the practice tables was also all kinds of fun. Some of the best reactions were from people trying out the big Qiyi Sail, and a C4U gas-assisted so I'd highly recommend bringing anything unique. The Fangyuan also surprised a lot of people.

In relation to the current cube discussion above, I just got to try out a Valk 3 and have one en route. I'm not sure how much I'd love it for 2H, but intend to use that for practicing up OH.

The Weilong GTS is an odd beast, some of the ones I tried felt more stable than mine, but there's some weird feeling to the turning of the cube in general that I just can't get into. This really annoys me, because I find the performance on it is amazing.

 

[h2f]

About Valk once again me - jump from 17.46 to 16.44 ao12 and 18.50 ao50 in the morning session. I'm very surprised. I think it's a matter of the good cube which helps me to keep regular practice. I did ao50s almost every day this week.

 

[mafergut]

About Valk once again me - jump from 17.46 to 16.44 ao12 and 18.50 ao50 in the morning session. I'm very surprised. I think it's a matter of the good cube which helps me to keep regular practice. I did ao50s almost every day this week.

You have now destroyed my PB Ao12 But 1sec of improvement in Ao12 is amazing. Congratulations!!! The curious thing is that your Ao50 is more or less the same as mine so this must mean that you can be on the sweet spot for longer than I can. For me it is difficult to get an Ao12 without at least one or two sup-20 solves and my % of sub 20 solves in an Ao50/100 is around 75% so, 1 in 4 solves is sup-20.

 

[h2f]

You have now destroyed my PB Ao12 But 1sec of improvement in Ao12 is amazing. Congratulations!!! The curious thing is that your Ao50 is more or less the same as mine so this must mean that you can be on the sweet spot for longer than I can. For me it is difficult to get an Ao12 without at least one or two sup-20 solves and my % of sub 20 solves in an Ao50/100 is around 75% so, 1 in 4 solves is sup-20.

Yes, it looks like we are at the same level. This ao12 was very lucky and I had few 20's in the session but luckily it started of two 14's. Times were: 14.66, 14.70, 17.69, 17.14, 17.49, 17.76, 16.68, 16.82, (14.12), (23.03), 17.22, 14.18 = 16.44. I've noticed that I got good times in the beginning or in the middle of the session. In the end I'm too tired and everything goes bad. My ratio sub/over20 is 37/13 in this session.

Edit: 10 more solves to do ao100 and I'm 18.29 ao50.

 

[muchacho]

Reached 30000 timed solves, so it's time for drawing lines. I may have improved like 1 second during last 5000 solves, I'll try to repeat that after 5000 more solves... and I'll try to learn the AS CMLL set.

 

[pglewis]

These days Gans air arrived. I hear about locking problems. Well I just set it right. If I want stability I use red or orange springs. If i use yellow it feels like Valk, but i dont like it.
If set up right, gans air is stable, controlable, high quality plastic, beautifull cube. Absolutely no lockups.

I've had no lockups but very common small catches (I have a Cubicle Premium version which they only include the clear/white springs). The catches do not affect my times at all and are entirely due to my lazy turning, but it's an aesthetic thing. My Thunderclap V1s are so forgiving and smooth I've become spoiled. I really do like the smooth feel of the Air and I find it to be very stable about holding its shape for me.

 

[mafergut]

@h2f, Grzegorz you already beat me at Ao50 and I assume by now also at Ao100. And your consistency seems to be far better than mine. Not gonna race you to sub-18 Ao50 because I'm bond to lose

@muchacho, David, nice progression. How long have those 30 thousand taken? As you can see in the 1st graph the trend is nowhere near flat yet so you have room for improvement.

Fun fact, I got one of my first comments to one of my videos (from someone outside this thread, I mean) and the question was about my mechanical keyboard

 

[muchacho]

467 days

1-5000: 7-jul-2015/11-dic-2015 (157 days)
5001-10000: 25-feb (76 days)
10001-15000: 23-apr (58 days)
15001-20000: 8-jun (46 days)
20001-25000: 9-aug (62 days)
25001-30000: 16-oct (68 days)

Just from being a bit faster I should be doing more solves/day, not less, I'll fix that... but those 109 solves/day in 46 days looks too much.

PS. That keyboard looks cool. My space key fails sometimes

 

[mafergut]

467 days

1-5000: 7-jul-2015/11-dic-2015 (157 days)
5001-10000: 25-feb (76 days)
10001-15000: 23-apr (58 days)
15001-20000: 8-jun (46 days)
20001-25000: 9-aug (62 days)
25001-30000: 16-oct (68 days)

Just from being a bit faster I should be doing more solves/day, not less, I'll fix that... but those 109 solves/day in 46 days looks too much.

PS. That keyboard looks cool. My space key fails sometimes

Very nice progression in a little bit over a year!!!
I have been speedcubing since end of 2013. One year and a half later I was averaging around 23-24 seconds. You seem to be averaging close to 20 already. Good job!

 

[muchacho]

Thanks. I would say I'm averaging barely sub-22 though (counting all but DNF solves). I was lazy and DNFs are not recognized as that into the calculation, so a 20 seconds DNF is just taken as a 20 seconds solve in that graph :rolleyes: I'll fix that for next graph.

 

[Selkie]

Sorry been a bit inactive guys, few family bits going on but starting to ramp up practice for UK Championships now. Hope all my older brethren are doing well. Will catch up on the thread as soon as I can.

 

[h2f]

@h2f, Grzegorz you already beat me at Ao50 and I assume by now also at Ao100. And your consistency seems to be far better than mine. Not gonna race you to sub-18 Ao50 because I'm bond to lose

Thanks but it was only a moment. I've finished 18.68 ao100 which is the best ao100 I've ever got. Still, slower than your pb. And it looks like 30% of it is over 20 but most of them are in a range 20-22. I think the most imporatant than sub20/over20 ratio is how many solves are in the range of 14-16 because it makes the average higher or lower. I was just lucky and got good scrambles in this session.

 

[mafergut]

Thanks but it was only a moment. I've finished 18.68 ao100 which is the best ao100 I've ever got. Still, slower than your pb. And it looks like 30% of it is over 20 but most of them are in a range 20-22. I think the most imporatant than sub20/over20 ratio is how many solves are in the range of 14-16 because it makes the average higher or lower. I was just lucky and got good scrambles in this session.

Yeah, I agree that the sup/sub 20 ratio is just an indication but also important is that the sup-20s don't go (save for some DNFs, fumbled solves, etc.) over 22 and also the fact that the most likely / most repeated time goes from 19.xx to 18.xx to even 17.xx. Right now my most likely time is 18.xx, need to move towards 17.xx

 

[h2f]

Right now my most likely second interval is 18.xx, need to move towards 17.xx

I have a same feeling about my times. Most of them are in the range 18-20 and 2/3 in a range 16-20. I think practice is the answer how to do it. And buy Valk 3 (in the next week if it's in the stock).

 

[mafergut]

I have a same feeling about my times. Most of them are in the range 18-20 and 2/3 in a range 16-20. I think practice is the answer how to do it. And buy Valk 3 (in the next week if it's in the stock).

I'm gonna try to accumulate a session with a good amount of solves over the coming weeks (did I say I have too little practice time already?) like several Ao100s and take a look at the time distribution histogram, see what I get.

 

[mark49152]

Seems to be a lot of 3x3 discussion these days. Are any of you guys practising anything else? Bigger cubes maybe?

I know about Grzegorz's and Mark's BLD progress of course.

 

[muchacho]

Just this morning I looked how to solve a Square-1 (again), but I'm not sure if I'm going to learn it yet (because I may forgot everything after some weeks of no practice), maybe I'll try to learn it a month or so before a comp (same with relearning Skewb). I'll be practicing Kilominx and Megaminx (and 4x4 is the biggeśt I'll try for now), and maybe finish BLD (probably not this year). But I think I'm going to focus on 2x2 and try to get it down to 5 seconds somehow, using Ortega, CLL (well, most will be CMLL), AntiCLL and some of SOAP.