Older cubers discussions

[openseas]

Well, the PB sheet has already been quite inspiring for me. I went ahead and entered PBs for 4x4x4 for both AvG and Hoya, since I'm hoping to beat my AvG speed with Hoya soon. If I do, I'll remove the AvG entries. And this week for the weekly competition I beat my previous Hoya PBs (single and avg5) by 5 seconds! I'm only a few seconds away from my AvG avg5 PB now!

Agree! Motivation and inspiration, immediately.

Got 4BLD PB, one step closer to Sub-10 (min)

1. 10:56.56 [6:21.47] L2 Fw' R2 Rw U2 Uw R F R' Rw' Uw R Rw' F2 Fw2 B' R' F2 Uw D2 U B' R' Rw' D2 U Fw' U' Fw' L D' L2 Uw' D B' F U' F' Fw L2

 

[newtonbase]

Agree! Motivation and inspiration, immediately.

Got 4BLD PB, one step closer to Sub-10 (min)

1. 10:56.56 [6:21.47] L2 Fw' R2 Rw U2 Uw R F R' Rw' Uw R Rw' F2 Fw2 B' R' F2 Uw D2 U B' R' Rw' D2 U Fw' U' Fw' L D' L2 Uw' D B' F U' F' Fw L2

Getting close. Well done I have the same target and will practice little else for the next 2 months.

 

[Logiqx]

We're on page 888... my favourite number (see profile pic).

On a more serious note if you feel that the cubing community should take a stance against Rubik's trying to control and monopolise the speed cubing community, consider contributing towards the thecubicle's case. Most of us have more disposable cash than the average cuber!

https://www.gofundme.com/thecubicleus-legal-fund

 

[openseas]

We're on page 888... my favourite number (see profile pic).

On a more serious note if you feel that the cubing community should take a stance against Rubik's trying to control and monopolise the speed cubing community, consider contributing towards the thecubicle's case. Most of us have more disposable cash than the average cuber!

https://www.gofundme.com/thecubicleus-legal-fund

Yeap, did on the first day!

 

[Mike Hughey]

I figure the people here could provide some good advice, considering how much some of you here seem to be interested in hardware. I really need to update my cube collection - almost everything I have is several years old and I'm really operating at a handicap because of inferior hardware. Any recommendations on how I should go about upgrading?

I have a long complicated list of needs. First, I have a weird color scheme (Japanese color scheme, but with orange and red swapped), and I have over a decade of BLD practice that means I can't change that color scheme. :-( So I'll need to match that color scheme on anything I get. Second, I really don't want to spend a lot of time setting up cubes, restickering, magnetizing, etc., since I have too little time to cube anyway, and I'm currently spending almost all my free time trying to improve the speedsolving.com website (I probably spend 15 to 20 hours of my free time per week coding on it now). I really can't see myself being willing to spend any time doing my own magnetizing, so if I want magnets, I'd have to buy them already magnetized. I of course will have to get to my color scheme, but I'm pretty good at swapping all the pieces I can, then peeling off the necessary remaining stickers and swapping them to make the correct color scheme, so that doesn't take that long. Third, I'm pretty sensitive to color shades, so I'm a bit nervous at the thought of going stickerless. Plus I don't know what it would be like disassembling and reassembling parts to make my color scheme, and I wonder if maybe some stickerless cubes might not be possible to change to my scheme at all.

Most important are probably new 3x3x3, 4x4x4, and 5x5x5, since they affect me for BLD as much as for speedsolving. I got a fairly new Wushuang 5x5x5 which is not terrible, but I'm not very good at setting up cubes and I'm not sure how to go about making it better. I suspect a new 6x6x6 and new 7x7x7 would help tremendously, perhaps more than anything else I could get, since my current ones are 4-year-old ShengShous.

For non-cubic puzzles, I have a fairly new X-Man Volt square1, so I think I'm set on that, although I need new stickers. My megaminx isn't too terribly old and is far from affecting my times now, so I doubt I need that. I think my pyraminx is fine. I desperately need a new skewb, though.

Then there's the matter of multi. My multi cubes are mostly really bad; when I did the 12/12 last year, a couple of them were actual storebought regular Rubik's cubes from 10 years ago, because they were the best cubes I had. So I need cubes for multi rather badly.

Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Logiqx]

@Mike Hughey - If your budget allows, I'd recommended Cubicle labs and you can even specify your own colours / scheme.

https://thecubicle.us/cubicle-labs-c-228.html

I love my Cubicle Labs Valk M (3x3), WuQue M (4x4) and WuShuang M (5x5).

For a Skewb get the X-Man Wingy Magnetic (concave)... you won't regret it!

 

[pglewis]

@Mike Hughey: I think going with stickered and choosing your own shades and color scheme is the way to go. Not only are you at the mercy of whatever shades the stickerless comes with but there's a fair chance it would be another adjustment recognizing on stickerless if you're used to over a decade of black stickered (I'm the opposite, been stickerless so long now that stickered is always weird at first).

I'm still trying to come up with an ideal platform for mbld, myself. I prefer a much slower puzzle for blind right now and of course cost becomes an issue at volume (I'm not quite prepared to fork out for 10+ GTS2Ms/Valk 3Ms). I picked up the "Cubers Home" magnetic Yuxin Little Magic as one candidate because it's the best <$5 base puzzle I've tried and I love the pure speed for regular 3x3 but I think I want something more tame for blind; I suppose I could experiment slowing it down via lube. Another very good budget cube, the MF3RS2 is more stable than the Yuxin and I'll wager it makes a fantastic magnetic cube... but it also tends to run nearly double the base price of the Yuxin.

@newtonbase used to have a fleet of Thunderclaps for mbld (probably still a perfectly reliable platform for mbld) but I know he recent picked up a bunch of Little Magics.

 

[One Wheel]

I figure the people here could provide some good advice, considering how much some of you here seem to be interested in hardware. I really need to update my cube collection - almost everything I have is several years old and I'm really operating at a handicap because of inferior hardware. Any recommendations on how I should go about upgrading?

I have a long complicated list of needs. First, I have a weird color scheme (Japanese color scheme, but with orange and red swapped), and I have over a decade of BLD practice that means I can't change that color scheme. :-( So I'll need to match that color scheme on anything I get. Second, I really don't want to spend a lot of time setting up cubes, restickering, magnetizing, etc., since I have too little time to cube anyway, and I'm currently spending almost all my free time trying to improve the speedsolving.com website (I probably spend 15 to 20 hours of my free time per week coding on it now). I really can't see myself being willing to spend any time doing my own magnetizing, so if I want magnets, I'd have to buy them already magnetized. I of course will have to get to my color scheme, but I'm pretty good at swapping all the pieces I can, then peeling off the necessary remaining stickers and swapping them to make the correct color scheme, so that doesn't take that long. Third, I'm pretty sensitive to color shades, so I'm a bit nervous at the thought of going stickerless. Plus I don't know what it would be like disassembling and reassembling parts to make my color scheme, and I wonder if maybe some stickerless cubes might not be possible to change to my scheme at all.

Most important are probably new 3x3x3, 4x4x4, and 5x5x5, since they affect me for BLD as much as for speedsolving. I got a fairly new Wushuang 5x5x5 which is not terrible, but I'm not very good at setting up cubes and I'm not sure how to go about making it better. I suspect a new 6x6x6 and new 7x7x7 would help tremendously, perhaps more than anything else I could get, since my current ones are 4-year-old ShengShous.

For non-cubic puzzles, I have a fairly new X-Man Volt square1, so I think I'm set on that, although I need new stickers. My megaminx isn't too terribly old and is far from affecting my times now, so I doubt I need that. I think my pyraminx is fine. I desperately need a new skewb, though.

Then there's the matter of multi. My multi cubes are mostly really bad; when I did the 12/12 last year, a couple of them were actual storebought regular Rubik's cubes from 10 years ago, because they were the best cubes I had. So I need cubes for multi rather badly.

Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I second the cubicle labs suggestion, although I'll admit I haven't done business with cubicle labs, only thecubicle. They'll probably be able to get you whatever you want. I personally thought I really liked black stickered puzzles, but then I got a black Wuji and magnetized it. The turning was fantastic, but the stickers kept catching under my fingernails. Qiyi stock stickers are junk, in my opinion. Especially for big cube centers I find stickerless recognition vastly better, that may be flipped for blind, though.

I've tried a few 6x6s, currently using a CB G6 M, hoping to upgrade to a Wuhua v2 M soon, but I haven't bit the bullet to buy it yet.

7x7 I've used the Aofu, Yufu, SS (just a little), and Wuji. Iirc the SS was miles behind any of them, the Aofu and Yufu were comparable, and the Wuji is by far the best.

I've used a SS, Weichuang, Wushuang, and Yuxin for 5x5. My times immediately dropped at least 30 seconds going from the SS to the Weichuang, the Wushuang is better than the Weichuang, and IMO the Yuxin 5x5 M the way I have it set up is one of the nicest feeling puzzles I've ever handled. 6x1 n48 inside, 5x1 n52 outside, some cubicle weight 1 in the core, and silk on the pieces. Moderately tight tensions.

 

[openseas]

@Mike Hughey / As folks mentioned above, for all NxN cubes, both Cubicle or SCS customized products (cubicle laps or pro shop)are fairly good and they can even handle your color scheme. If you have concerns ordering all these customized (also magnetized) cubes at the same time (several hundreds dollars), factory magnetized versions are also good enough (people say magnets are a little bit weak but weaker magnets are better for BLD).

3x3: V3 M > GTS2 M - I went back and forth between GTS2 M vs V3 M (all DIY magnetized) but these days V3 M is my main.
4x4: Wuque M > Aosu GTS M
5x5: Wushuang M ~ Yuxin M
6x6 & 7x7 : no experience

MBLD: @newtonbase seems like little magics but I haven't tried. MF3Rs (all magnetized) are good but even without magnets, good enough for MLBD (+ very affordable).

 

[newtonbase]

Yes, I do like my home magnetised Little Magics but Thunderclaps are very good. @mark49152 uses them.

 

[Mike Hughey]

Thanks to everyone for the advice - I really appreciate it! I have a birthday coming up so I'm going to ask for some of these from my wife for my birthday.

@Mike Hughey
For a Skewb get the X-Man Wingy Magnetic (concave)... you won't regret it!

Is it competition legal (is the shape a problem)? I can imagine it would be a mind-boggling improvement over what I have now.

 

[Logiqx]

Is it competition legal (is the shape a problem)? I can imagine it would be a mind-boggling improvement over what I have now.

Yes and to the best of my knowledge it's the favouite of the top Skewb solvers. It's much easier to control than a cubic version.

 

[SpartanSailor]

Late to the party here... I agree with others that custom ordering from Cubicle or Speedcube shops is a good idea. Let them do all the setup and work and they will make the color shades and scheme however you want.

I also recommend the x-man wingy skewb... that bad boy is the best skewb on the market if you ask me. They are EVERYWHERE at our local comps. When they call for skewb, the scrambling table is littered with them. I have a stickerless that I use for competition and a black with standard stickers. I don't think there's really much difference. I prefer the stickerless, but that's just a personal thing. Definitely competition legal too.

I think others mentioned the magnetized 4x4... I have both the Wuque M and Aosu GTS M and agree that the Wuque is far better.

I don't have any magnetized larger cubes since I don't really solve those very often and can't justify the expense just to have a "cool" magnetized 6x6 to sit on my shelf. That said, if I decide to get into 6x6 the first thing I'll do is invest in a nice magnetized one.

 

[Mike Hughey]

I don't have any magnetized larger cubes since I don't really solve those very often and can't justify the expense just to have a "cool" magnetized 6x6 to sit on my shelf. That said, if I decide to get into 6x6 the first thing I'll do is invest in a nice magnetized one.

The prices on those magnetized 6x6x6 and 7x7x7 are a bit daunting. But I spend a lot of time each week on 6x6x6 and 7x7x7, relatively speaking, so I'm pretty tempted to splurge on them. We'll see. I'll definitely have to go with magnetic 3-5, though.

And I'm looking forward to seeing what the wingy skewb is like; I really think that will be a huge difference. My current skewb is so bad that I'm quite sure a new skewb will cut my times by much more than half. And skewb is sufficiently different that I think I might try stickerless for it. The only problem I could see for the colors on it would be if I did it BLD, and it's been a while since I did skewb BLD.

For multi I'm probably going to stick to pretty cheap cubes. Even trying for 16-20 cubes, I can't help believing speed is just not that much of a factor, and anything I get now will be a DRASTIC improvement over what I've been using. I won't get them custom-stickered because of the cost, but there are only 4 to 6 stickers that need to be swapped to get to my color scheme on a 3x3x3, so that's not too much work. (I need to swap white and green faces to get from standard color scheme to mine. If I can swap center caps and twist a piece, there are only 4 corner stickers that need swapping.)

 

[newtonbase]

The prices on those magnetized 6x6x6 and 7x7x7 are a bit daunting. But I spend a lot of time each week on 6x6x6 and 7x7x7, relatively speaking, so I'm pretty tempted to splurge on them. We'll see. I'll definitely have to go with magnetic 3-5, though.

And I'm looking forward to seeing what the wingy skewb is like; I really think that will be a huge difference. My current skewb is so bad that I'm quite sure a new skewb will cut my times by much more than half. And skewb is sufficiently different that I think I might try stickerless for it. The only problem I could see for the colors on it would be if I did it BLD, and it's been a while since I did skewb BLD.

For multi I'm probably going to stick to pretty cheap cubes. Even trying for 16-20 cubes, I can't help believing speed is just not that much of a factor, and anything I get now will be a DRASTIC improvement over what I've been using. I won't get them custom-stickered because of the cost, but there are only 4 to 6 stickers that need to be swapped to get to my color scheme on a 3x3x3, so that's not too much work. (I need to swap white and green faces to get from standard color scheme to mine. If I can swap center caps and twist a piece, there are only 4 corner stickers that need swapping.)

Thunderclap corners are very easy to take apart and reorder. Little Magics are less easy but possible. Those funny shaped skewbs are everywhere. I'd get one if I cared.

 

[Jason Green]

We're on page 888... my favourite number (see profile pic).

On a more serious note if you feel that the cubing community should take a stance against Rubik's trying to control and monopolise the speed cubing community, consider contributing towards the thecubicle's case. Most of us have more disposable cash than the average cuber!

https://www.gofundme.com/thecubicleus-legal-fund

The Cubicle, Chris Olson, and JR Cuber all put out good videos recently talking about the lawsuit. I donated right away also.

@Mike Hughey, I think you're covered on good advice already, mine would be the same as others!

 

[pglewis]

Hot and cold session with 3x3. Working on lookahead and incorporating a few new F2L solutions and finding myself making lots of mistakes, clobbering solved pairs, solving edges flipped. Finally hit a milestone I've been looking forward to for a while though: two sub 20s in the same day, both in the 19s. Both were full step last layer but one of 'em had a magic unplanned F2L pair so I only had to solve three. I'm seeing a lot more 20s and 21s. Of course, I'm seeing a lot more 36s and 40s too

 

[SpartanSailor]

Hot and cold session with 3x3. Working on lookahead and incorporating a few new F2L solutions and finding myself making lots of mistakes, clobbering solved pairs, solving edges flipped. Finally hit a milestone I've been looking forward to for a while though: two sub 20s in the same day, both in the 19s. Both were full step last layer but one of 'em had a magic unplanned F2L pair so I only had to solve three. I'm seeing a lot more 20s and 21s. Of course, I'm seeing a lot more 36s and 40s too

Sounds like you and I are about the same point... both in solve time and progress. I definitely see more 20s and 21s now than ever before, but when things go wrong they go REALLY wrong! I don't know the standard deviation of my solves, but I'd bet its relatively large--meaning large variability about the mean. I'd take just a nice tight grouping (low variability) that is at or slightly better than my official average. I'd probably celebrate like I set the WR if I saw a 19 in competition! HAHAHAHA

 

[openseas]

Oh, so close... off by one center pair...

4BLD
1. DNF(10:09.47)[5:36.53] Uw Fw' F2 Uw2 Rw' F D2 R D2 B Uw2 U D2 F2 Fw B' Uw R F' Fw2 U B' L' F2 D2 Rw L' U R2 U' D F Uw2 F B L' Uw2 R2 B' Rw'

 

[openseas]

Oh, so close... off by one center pair...

4BLD
1. DNF(10:09.47)[5:36.53] Uw Fw' F2 Uw2 Rw' F D2 R D2 B Uw2 U D2 F2 Fw B' Uw R F' Fw2 U B' L' F2 D2 Rw L' U R2 U' D F Uw2 F B L' Uw2 R2 B' Rw'View attachment 8901

Actually, made up right after this DNF! First sub 10!

1. 9:58.93 [4:41.24] L' Rw' U Fw' U2 Rw' U F' B Uw2 Rw L' R Uw' D F2 Fw' R B' R' Uw R' D' F' D2 Fw2 B D R U L R' Fw Uw' F2 D U R2 L' D