What am I doing wrong?

[speedcuber50]

Hi!

My average was around 30 seconds on a standard Rubik's brand. I had fairly decent F2L lookahead, 2-look OLL and most 1-look PLL cases. My best time was 24 seconds.

I bought a Dayan Zhanchi.

My average is around 30 seconds on the Dayan Zhanchi. I have some, but not the best, fingertricks. The cube doesn't feel comfortable for fingertricks. I have been unable to get decent lookahead with fingertricks. I have 2-look OLL and most 1-look PLL cases. My best time is 21 seconds. Today I got 23 seconds, then a few solves later I got 41 seconds.

Why? What am I doing wrong? Might the Zhanchi not get me sub-20?

 

[TheOneOnTheLeft]

Might the Zhanchi not get me sub-20?

You can get sub-20 on a ZhanChi, you just need to practise. You can't expect a new cube to magically drop your times.

Maybe try tightening the tensions so that it's easier to control (you don't need full 45 degree corner cutting).

Practise your fingertricks if they don't feel comfortable, or find new ones that work better for you.

 

[omer]

New cubes "magically" make time better when the average is around 40-60 seconds. Less than that and you'll have to get really used to the cube in order to improve.

Just keep on using it until you get used to it.

 

[Smiles]

what might be happening is either the zhanchi is overshooting because you're turning harder than you should be, or your fingers can't catch up with how fast that cube is. this takes a lot of time and practice to get over, since with the rubik's cube you have to turn both harder and slower, so being able to turn faster and still accurately takes adjustment.

at least you broke your PB with the zhanchi, isn't that good news? consistency will come with getting used to a new cube.
and any cube can get you sub-20, just don't expect any big jumps in your time simply because your cube is better.

 

[jayefbe]

I think your expectations of how much a good cube will help your times and your analysis of how good you are, are too high. Unless you've got a cube that's painful to turn, switching to a faster/better cube will have almost no immediate effect if you're averaging around 30 seconds. You're turning too slow to really utilize the benefits of a really good cube. It's still good to use a decent cube so you can learn decent finger tricks, but it's not a magical tool that will immediately drop your times by five seconds. Also, at those speeds, I wouldn't consider look ahead or finger tricks good or decent. I don't consider those aspects of solving good or decent for me at faster times. The only thing you're doing wrong is going in with too high of expectations. The only thing that will decrease your times is lots of practice.

 

[uniacto]

the first time I used a zhanchi, I broke the WR on the first solve. I wonder what happened to yours?

Just kidding. If you could upload a video of your solves and fingertricks, that'd be great.

 

[sneaklyfox]

New cubes "magically" make time better when the average is around 40-60 seconds. Less than that and you'll have to get really used to the cube in order to improve.

Just keep on using it until you get used to it.

Actually, this is not entirely true. New and better cubes don't magically make your times better at any time if what's holding you back is look ahead and bad fingertricks. It only helps when it's the cube holding you back.

 

[MorrisKid101]

Hi!

My average was around 30 seconds on a standard Rubik's brand. I had fairly decent F2L lookahead, 2-look OLL and most 1-look PLL cases. My best time was 24 seconds.

I bought a Dayan Zhanchi.

My average is around 30 seconds on the Dayan Zhanchi. I have some, but not the best, fingertricks. The cube doesn't feel comfortable for fingertricks. I have been unable to get decent lookahead with fingertricks. I have 2-look OLL and most 1-look PLL cases. My best time is 21 seconds. Today I got 23 seconds, then a few solves later I got 41 seconds.

Why? What am I doing wrong? Might the Zhanchi not get me sub-20?

I know everyone's gonna say this but.....
Try the following:
Lubing
Tensioning
(last resort) sanding

If none of the above work, ask the company if they can help because you might have a dud.

You can get sub-20 on a ZhanChi, you just need to practise. You can't expect a new cube to magically drop your times.

Maybe try tightening the tensions so that it's easier to control (you don't need full 45 degree corner cutting).

Practise your fingertricks if they don't feel comfortable, or find new ones that work better for you.

I disagree. I had a random cube from eBay, and I got around 1m 30s on average, and then I bought a Zhanchi*. I ended up doing my average by about 40 seconds seconds the best part of 2 days. Guess it happens to some and not to others.

*it was from the exact same company (PUZL.co.uk) as the cube speedcuber50 bought

 

[ben1996123]

youre probably trying to turn way too fast

 

[Username]

I disagree. I had a random cube from eBay, and I got around 1m 30s on average, and then I bought a Zhanchi*. I ended up doing my average by about 40 seconds seconds the best part of 2 days. Guess it happens to some and not to others.

*it was from the exact same company (PUZL.co.uk) as the cube speedcuber50 bought

In your case your cube was holding you back from getting good times. It is not magic...

 

[cc9tough]

I had a similar experience when I first got my zhanchi. It is a big jump to go from a rubik's brand cube to a zhanchi. All I can say is keep practicing so that you get used to the cube, keep working on your look ahead, and keep learning pll/oll algs. This is what I did and I went from barely sub 30 to currently about 20 avg.

 

[yockee]

Look ahead really isn't important until you're getting on for 20 seconds and below. You can get down to 21 - 22 without it. You really just need to focus on mastering your F2L cases and making them more efficient. Your F2L including cross, should be around 35 moves. I personally wouldn't recommend a ZhanChi until you're sub 20. I would have switched to something like an Edison, type C, F1, or A2.

 

[speedcuber50]

Maybe try tightening the tensions so that it's easier to control (you don't need full 45 degree corner cutting).

It can barely cut 22.5 degrees. And it's rather difficult to turn.

Should I loosen it? (Although I have tried that already and it kept locking up.)

 

[yockee]

It can barely cut 22.5 degrees. And it's rather difficult to turn.

Should I loosen it? (Although I have tried that already and it kept locking up.)

It sounds to me like you haven't lubed it. This is why. It absolutely must be lubed.

 

[KongShou]

why u ask for help when ur zhanchi is neither lubed or tensioned? It needs both to get it amazing(45 degree corner cut.)

 

[omer]

Actually, this is not entirely true. New and better cubes don't magically make your times better at any time if what's holding you back is look ahead and bad fingertricks. It only helps when it's the cube holding you back.

Well it got me down from 60 average to 40-60 instantly.

 

[ben1996123]

Well it got me down from 60 average to 40-60 instantly.

"if what's holding you back is look ahead and bad fingertricks."

 

[omer]

"if what's holding you back is look ahead and bad fingertricks."

What's your point? they were both very big problems for me when I was averaging 60 seconds. Them and having a bad cube obviously.

 

[Zakary Kamal]

Hi!

My average was around 30 seconds on a standard Rubik's brand. I had fairly decent F2L lookahead, 2-look OLL and most 1-look PLL cases. My best time was 24 seconds.

I bought a Dayan Zhanchi.

My average is around 30 seconds on the Dayan Zhanchi. I have some, but not the best, fingertricks. The cube doesn't feel comfortable for fingertricks. I have been unable to get decent lookahead with fingertricks. I have 2-look OLL and most 1-look PLL cases. My best time is 21 seconds. Today I got 23 seconds, then a few solves later I got 41 seconds.

Why? What am I doing wrong? Might the Zhanchi not get me sub-20?

I think you cannot be better because the ZhanChi is not a cube for you. We have different type of cube who make different sensation. The Zhanchi is a crispy cube so it lock all the time but just a little bit, so try to buy a Guhong because is exactly the opposite type of cube.

 

[yockee]

What's your point? they were both very big problems for me when I was averaging 60 seconds. Them and having a bad cube obviously.

This is half of the problem with new cubers and the people that make the tutorials they watch. I think that people making look ahead videos and things of this nature, should be more clear about the target audience, because the wrong people watch these videos and worry about things that shouldn't matter at their level, so they end up learning the "wrong" things. Looking ahead just isn't something anyone should even be worried about at 60 sec. There are so many other things that get you faster than 60, before you ever need to worry about look ahead. Types of cubes is another one of these things. The things you really should be worrying about at 60 and even 40 sec, is F2L efficiency, mastering technique / case recognition, etc. You can do all these things with a Rubik's brand and looking ahead just shouldn't exist at this level.