Timing is Everything

So, this will probably be boring, but I decided that I wanted to see how much my times had dropped since I haven't really been focusing on my cubing speed for the last few months.

Before, my best recorded time was 35 seconds, with my average about 44. So, not bad overall, but it could be better. But, in the last few months, I've been focusing more on variety rather than speed. Especially with the 3x3. I've been solving 3x3's, but in the form of the Mirror Blocks Cube, the Octahedron UFO, and the Axis and Fisher Cubes. I know that my 5x5 and 7x7 (and perhaps 4x4) times have improved in the last few weeks, mostly because I know that I have been doing them a lot.

Regardless, I was interested in seeing two things: the first being how bad my 3x3 times were now, and the second being which of my cubes was fastest.

So, to start this off, let me explain the process. I used:

1. My Rubik's Brand 3x3. Store-bought, owned longest (and therefore broken in longest), but not the best rep for speedcubing. Lubed with Vaseline (I know, I know).
2. My YJ 3x3 White. My second 3x3, this one's interesting. It has a very light, airy feel, but right now is a bit gunky feeling because of the Vaseline, so it doesn't work as well as it used to.
3. My mini QJ 3x3 White. I have three of these, but I figured that they should all turn about the same, so I only used one. These have a very loose, fast feel to them, but I'm not ever really worried that they're going to pop.
4. My ShengEn F-II White. This is my highest quality cube, and it turns like a dream. Cuts corners amazingly, even reverse cuts a bit, requires next to no force to turn, it's just awesome in general. Only downside, it tends to pop if you're overly rough with it.

So, the set up for the timing was as follows: I used CubeTimer as the timing source. You use the space bar as a start and stop, and it even offers and randomly generated scramble algorithm. For each puzzle, I allowed myself a warm-up solve to try to get used to the feel of that puzzle.

YJ 3x3x3:

00:45.26

01:04.63

00:54.79

00:53.09

00:50.14

Average: 00:53.58

Best: 00:45.26

QJ Mini 3x3x3:

00:50.21

00:44.30

00:44.30

00:59.57

00:41.80

Average: 00:48.04

Best: 00:41.80

Rubik's Brand 3x3x3

00:52.13

00:54.42

00:51.93

00:49.81

00:45.15

Average 00:50.69

Best: 00:45.15

Sheng-En FII

 

00:39.23

00:55.92

00:55.59

00:45.71

00:51.03

Average: 00:49.49

Best: 00:39.23

So, this yielded some interesting results. Going by averages, my fastest is the QJ, with the Sheng-En next, the Rubik's after that, and the YJ being the slowest.

However, going by fastest times, my Sheng-En is the fastest, followed by the QJ, then the Rubik's and then (barely behind it) the YJ. But, something interesting happened... my warm-up solve of the Rubik's brand 3x3 (arguably the one that would be considered the worst brand for speed cubing of all of these) was 39.42 seconds. Not quite faster than the Sheng-En's best time, but negligibly close. Granted, it was a lucky solve, but still, that shows that with my Rubik's broken in the way it is, it's pretty damn fast (it's main downfall is that it can't cut corners very well, but I'm thinking about a mod to fix that).

Another note I want to make is that I feel like these figures reflect poorly on my Sheng-En. I know it got the fastest time, but the averages are awful, and I feel like each time I tried it I got clumsier. So, I don't think they're very representative.

Finally, I'd like to rate them myself.

1. The Sheng-En. The key to this puzzle is getting used to the slight amount of force required, and not letting the adrenaline of solving fast make you get sloppy and rough. If you stay calm and controlled with your turns, this cube will effortlessly get you some sweet times.
2. The mini QJ. These little puzzles are damn fast. They're loose, though, but I've never popped a cublet. It's so forgiving that it will accept really sloppy, quick turns. This is the exact opposite of the Sheng-En; for that, you need to be calm and controlled for the fastest times, for this, you can be quick and dirty.
3. The Rubik's brand. This is close behind the other two, and I feel like once you get used to the feel of this one, it can be pretty sweet. Mine turns really smoothly, and it's pretty easy to turn. The downside is that there's practically no corner cutting, so it feels kinda tight. Still, once you get used to that, it's definitely respectable.
4. The loser is the YJ. It's been a while since I lubed it, so I don't remember exactly how it felt, but I know it was a good deal smoother and lighter. Once I take the Vaseline out it should return to normal, or even smoother than it used to be, but right now it just feels like it's full of honey

I'm also pretty happy with my times. They're not quite as good as they used to be, but I returned to being pretty close again after 30 or so solves. Pretty sweet.

That's all for tonight. Sorry if this ended up being another long post, and I'm sure that it was boring at parts, but hopefully the pictures helped. If not, hopefully this will help. Damn, he's fast.

Alright, well, goodnight, and thanks for reading!