Q: WHICH CUBE SHOULD I BUY ?
A: If you’re interested in learning to speed-solve the cube, maybe getting an entry-level speed-cube would be a good place to start (don’t be tempted to buy a speed-cube straight away, as these are fine-tuned puzzles that all have different benefits and downfalls which need to be researched). Starting with a lower-tier speed-cube will mean that if you can get decent times on it, by the time you upgrade you will see a massive difference in your times. However, if you’re not interested in speed-solving the cube, a simple Rubik’s® branded cube or any cheap one you can find online will suffice.
Q: WHOW TO CHOOSE A CUBE ?
A: When you’re starting to learn how to solve the cube, it’s true to say that certain aspects such as corner cutting are not going to be entirely relevant to improving your times. However, as you begin to learn and implement finger tricks, you will begin to appreciate the benefits that top-range cubes offer. There are constant changes and improvements made to cubes, so it can be a little intimidating to try and keep up with the latest and greatest. Just know that it’s not necessary to have the most expensive and best cube on the market to be good and competition-worthy. A professional speed-cuber can still record competition-winning times with a budget cube. That being said, a more expensive top-of-the-line cube will have better potential, more consistent solves, and will overall be more fun to solve with. One thing that you’ll see a lot of in cubes nowadays is the introduction of magnets. Magnets in a cube help with stability and overall make the cube more enjoyable to solve with. The magnets are placed inside the pieces and aid your solves by snapping into place when you complete layer turns. This decreases the amount of undesirable morphing that the cube does during a solve by keeping it in its cube shape. This helps to decrease lockups when solving, and makes you less likely to overshoot a layer turn. Magnetic cubes are more expensive than non-magnetic cubes, so pricing is something you’ll have to consider. However most, if not all, cubers agree that magnets are 100% purely beneficial to cubing, at least when it comes to standard two-handed solving. So if you’re willing and able to play the price, it’s worth the investment. You can also definitely magnetize your cubes yourself, which can be quite a bit cheaper, but it takes some skill and patience to learn.As a result you may be inclined to think that a cheap speed cube will turn quite poorly but speedcubing hardware has developed so much in the past few years that essentially all speed cubes that you find on our site turn fast and smooth. You will notice this particularly if your previous cube was a cheap, store-bought puzzle.
Q: WHAT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL IN A SPEED-CUBE ?
- Corner Cutting: If the cube can continue turning when a layer is misaligned. This is where speed-cubes excel compared to commercial cubes. Most modern cubes can realign when the top face is turned over 45 degrees forward, or over 3/4’s of a piece backwards, allowing room for error when turning and increasing fluidity. Corner cutting is usually affected by tensioning, it decreases as the cube is tightened.
- Speed: It’s important to note that some speed-cubes are uncontrollable at first, especially to beginners. Speed can be controlled using lubrication, as the cube can be sped up or slowed depending on the weight of the lubricant.
- Popping & Corner Twists: Whether or how often the corners twist or the cube violently explodes. Most modern cubes do not have this problem on normal tensions, but one must be careful not to loosen a cube too much as the pieces are much more likely to pop this way.
- Feeling: This is often the most important part of a cube, and has the most personal preference associated with it. Common terms to describe feel include ‘bubbly’, ‘grindy’, ‘bumpy’, ‘blocky’, ‘smooth’, ‘tactile’ and ‘buttery’.
- Stability: Whether or not the cube flexes. If the cube deforms a lot, it isn’t stable. Less stable cubes tend to pop more often and warp. Cubers prefer more stability for more control.
- Magnet Strength: With the new addition of magnets in most cubes, this becomes another important aspect to look for. Not all cubes have magnets, and magnetic cubes are always more expensive than non-magnetic cubes. The letter “M” in the product description typically indicates that it’s magnetic. This can sometimes significantly increase the cost of the cube as magnets are precisely installed in the cube to work at the intended strength. Stronger magnets will generally make the cube snappier and more stable because it holds it in a cube shape better. Weaker magnets will help with keeping it stable, but won’t interfere with turning as much. It’s important to rotate the layers easily but too fast puzzles are harder to control.
- Type of Plastic: You can get cubes with different color plastic or with different surface finishes; depending on what that model offers. Some examples are stickerless and black colored plastic and surface finishes can be scratch resistant, polished, extra grip and so on. The majority of cubes will only come in one particular surface type and multiple plastic colors. But with higher end speed cubes there are multiple types of plastic surfaces to choose from. This generally does not have a major impact on cost and is generally something you should worry much about.
- Size: The most common sizes of the 3×3 speed cube either have a 4.2cm, 5.5cm or 5.7cm side. Some of them are much bigger or much smaller though. Larger and smaller cubes can not be used for speed-cubing because they are much more difficult to turn quickly, however when not used for competitions, they are equally as fun. The common speed cube has 5.7cm sides. Some speed-cubers have smaller fingers and therefore would prefer 5.5 cm cubes or even 4.2 cm cubes. 4.2cm cubes are always the preferred size for one handed solving. Our advice is that you try and choose what is the most comfortable to hold.
- Tension of Cube’s Core: The perfect tension for a speed cube depends of the taste and the style of the speed cuber. It’s a compromise to find between fast, precision required and frequency of pop out. We don’t recommend to choose a speed-cube that pops out easily. Although lack of precision is caused by the pressure of the competition, less precise moves will increase the chances of pops and ultimately cause wasted time. A cube that is too tight will not be comfortable. At every move, the speed cubers will need more strength and therefore the turn will be less precise. If you use regularly the same 3×3 speed cube, it will improve with time. The plastic edges will be rounded which will allow easier rotations.
- Lubrification: Lubrication is very important. Every speed-cuber uses lubricant regularly to improve the quality of his speed cube. Lubes differ in the way they affect a cube’s static and dynamic friction. The most used cube lubricant is made of silicon but they can also include petroleum jelly, shock oil, differential oil or water-based oils. The silicon is a good match with plastic and it lubricates the cube perfectly. Some silicon-based lubricants are more liquid, some others are more solid. The best speed-cube lubricant usually depends on both the style of the speed-cubers and the plastic of the speed-cube. Some speed-cubing champions are mixing two different lubricants for the perfect lubrication. Poor lubrication means a greater resistance when turning or rotating the cube, leading to it working poorly and affecting the speed-cubers solving speed. Lubes can even be used to slow down the Cube. When choosing a lube, there is no “one size fits all” as it depends on the cube being used and the cuber. Different lubes affect cubes differently.
Q: WHAT IS THE BEST CUBE ?
A: While there is no “best cube”, and a lot of personal preference is involved (especially when it comes to 3×3 where there is a lot of choice), some cubes are commonly considered better than others. If you put different speed cubers in a room and asked what is the best cube is you will probably get so different answers. If you are looking for a very durable cube that is not meant specifically for speed cubing you would want one that is controllable and does not have stickers that could fall off and deteriorate. Most speed-cubes on the market have a sticker-less version. These are often going to be much faster and smoother, and might be a better choice in the long run if the goal is to learn to solve the cube fast. However, currently it is not legal to use a sticker-less cube at competitions. If you are looking into speed cubing almost any cube will do. If you get one that is extremely fast it may be hard to control the cube at first, but it will become easier with time. Most speed-cubers like a specific cube because they prefer the shape, and feel of the puzzle. They found what works best for them by testing different ones out themselves. No matter what cube you get just remember to have fun.
Q: I’VE LEARNT THE CUBE, WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE ?
A: If you’re going for speed, you might want to spend a lot of time perfecting your 3×3 skills or even learning a more advanced method/algorithms. Practice makes perfect. As his inventor Rubik Ernö said: “The elegant solution, the quality of the solution, is much more important than timing. If you find a solution with the cube, it doesn’t mean you find everything. It’s only a starting point. You can work on and find something else, you can improve your solution, you can make it shorter, you can go deeper and deeper and collect knowledge and many other things”. The ability to solve the cube, improve your times and learn new algorithms is something that varies completely from person to person. There are some people who take months to get times below a minute whilst others can be under 20 seconds in the same time. If you simply practice as much as you can and try to learn some more algorithms, you’ll notice yourself improve pretty quickly. Eventually, you might begin to hit “walls” where you feel like you can’t improve past a certain point (such as the 20 or 10 second barriers), but practice will help that. It can take years to get times that you’re happy with, but if you really work at it you can achieve them. There are very few people who physically can’t improve past a certain point. Keep solving, and keep learning!
Q: WHAT IS SPEED-CUBING?
A: Speedcubing is the art of solving puzzle cubes as fast as possible. Most people would also say that speed-cubing is more than that: Other disciplines, such as one-handed cubing or blindfold cubing, or even solving non-cubic twisty puzzles can also be called “speed-cubing”. Speed-cubing is a combination of solving efficiently, but also solving quickly. The shortest solution may not be the fastest.
Q: I HEARD THAT I SHOULDN’T USE A GOOD CUBE UNTIL I GET FASTER.
A: This seems to be a common misconception peddled by uninformed cubers. There is no advantage to gain from starting with an inferior cube. In fact, you may develop some poor techniques by doing this. It will only hold you back and make it more difficult for you to adjust to a better cube.
Q: HOW FAST DO I NEED TO BE TO COMPETE?
A: There’s no requirement for speed to participate in most competitions. Even high level competitions are open to all, if you see a time listed for “pre-qualification”, this is a time that allows you to skip the qualifying round. If you are slower than that time you will still be allowed to take part in the qualifications. If you have the opportunity to attend a competition, even if you’re not very fast, most experienced competitors would advise you to go for the social interaction and experience.
Q: HOW DO I GET FASTER?
A: The main way to get faster is to just practice. There’s no secret, but there are things you can do to help improve. An example is analyzing how long each part of your solve takes and seeing what you can improve on. No one knows how you can get faster better than you do.
Q: WHAT IS THE FASTEST METHOD?
A: There is no ultimate method for humans, its really down to personal preference. The most popular speedcubing method is currently Fridrich, invented by engineer Jessica Fridrich, although other methods such as Petrus, Roux and ZZ are rising in popularity. Fridrich is currently used by many of the top speed-cubers, and is as such believed to be the fastest method. However, others attribute this to its popularity. The most obvious/natural progression from the beginner LBL method is Fridrich, which may explain its popularity. Being the most popular means it gains the most support and development, and is also more likely to be adopted by a talented cuber. More info can be found in the speed-solving forums, and YouTube channels where this often comes up as topic of debate.
Q: WHAT IS THE EASIEST METHOD?
A: The easiest method to learn is probably the beginner’s layer-by-layer (LBL) method in which you solve the first, second, and the finally the last layer one by one. It’s pretty basic, therefore easy to learn. However, this method however is relatively inefficient and is hard to achieve good times with. Other beginner methods exist, focusing on lower numbers of algorithms and/or more intuitive solving. Compared to the others, the LBL method has the easiest transition to the popular Fridrich speed-cubing method.
Q: SHOULD I LEARN ALGORITHMS FOR F2L OR LEARN IT INTUITIVELY?
A: That is entirely your choice. Learning the algorithms isn’t entirely hard since most cases can be seen and understood by practicing the algorithms, and it won’t take as much thinking when solving. If you do it intuitively, it will take practice to be able to do with speed and efficiency. Most people choose to learn intuitively and with some practice, it can be just as fast. Intuitive F2L may take more time to master but it is generally preferred because it allows for the use of advanced speed-reducing techniques such as multi-slotting and the use of empty slots.
Q: WHERE CAN I LEARN FINGER-TRICKS?
A: We advise you to try and start using finger-tricks without focusing too much on them. As you watch videos of cubers to see how they do it, and speak to people at competitions to pick up tricks, you’ll develop your own style of finger-tricks over time. It helps to try and discover finger-tricks yourself when learning algorithms.
Q: I WANT TO GO TO A COMPETITION. HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THERE’S GOING TO BE ONE NEAR ME?
A: All competitions that have been announced or have already happened are posted on the WCA website. If there’s not a competition that is near you at the moment, be on the lookout! Sometimes future competitions are discussed in the Official WCA Competition sub-forum.
Q: WHICH IS THE BEST METHOD?
A: As with the ‘best cube’ question, there is no best method. The most popular methods at the moment for speed-cubing are; CFOP, Roux, Petrus and ZZ.
Q: WHAT METHOD SHOULD I LEARN? SHOULD I SWITCH METHODS?
A: This is another question with no real answer. Do some research for yourself and if you like the look of a method, go for it! Each method mentioned has potential to be very fast. People have gone further with certain methods than with others, but that doesn’t mean that those methods are ‘better’. You can search the million+ posts on the Speedsolving.com in seconds.
Q: WHERE CAN I SEE ALL CURRENT OFFICIAL/UNOFFICIAL RECORDS?
A: All official records (records that are done at an official competition) can be found at: www.worldcubeassociation.org
Q: WHAT IS STANDARD DEVIATION?
A: In probability theory and statistics, standard deviation is a measure of the variability or dispersion of a population, a data set, or a probability distribution. A low standard deviation indicates that the data points tend to be very close to the same value (the mean), while high standard deviation indicates that the data are spread out over a large range of values.