i barely did any research before recording this, so let me know if i got anything wrong & i'll heart your comment and as always, feel free to post any questions you have and i'll answer as best i can!
It's good to know if you don't already, that the earlier versions of the Zhanchi were better than the later ones. They used softer plastic so they turned and corner cut a lot better. Those were the ones people set records with. But yeah the Zhanchi was the first cube I ever bought, and I got mine by the time they'd moved to the harder plastic, but I'll always love it regardless because it was my first. I've got far better cubes now like the gan xs. But just love the old fashioned feel of the Zhanchi. It's fun to play with You could try and boron treat it. Is that even a thing people do anymore? I dunno. But people used to boron-treat their cubes so that the plastic would become much softer. And so that could be a way to get the same feeling as the original soft plastic Zhanchis
Great review. I like your style and commentary. A couple issues though. Just because im an old-timer who live through the zanchi days. Its good to know that getting a new cube back then was MUCH different to how it is now. Today i can buy a gan 356546xsmpromaster or whatever and its a monster right out of the gate. But bak then you would get a new cube and there was a week-long process of setting it up. It was an art (lol). You would have to take the whole thing apart and cut any flashing, file corners, tension it, lube it and then break it in over hundreds of solves. Then once ut was broken in you had to re set it up because it preforms differently once broken in. It was crazy, but i loved it. I would order diy kits because i like tinkering.
Camera angle is good! ZhanChi days were wild. The only other really comparable cube was the GuHong which we modded. Although nearly nobody, literally no one back then used stickerless really because it was all comp illegal. Simple days. It was mind blowing when it came out. Took a while to break in though.
One possible reason why some people's zhanchis pop often is due to the plastic, the zhanchis you get now are almost always made with a harder plastic than the original softer plastic zhanchi so the pieces go against eachother more roughly
Damn, this brings me back. First speedcube I ever got and it was a great one to have. Also had the mini version of the 3x3, as well as the Dayan 2x2 and Megaminx. Haven’t really cubed since like 2014, so it’s really amazing how far it’s come since then
I remember buying a white zhanchi and stickerless guhong v2 back around 2014-2015. It tooks days of lubing, tensioning, and breaking in to get all the gumminess out of it. But my god those 2 cubes were ridiculously good during their prime.
Your reaction to the colors is hilarious. Back in the day, most people used cubes with stickers and if you didn’t like the color you would put cubesmith stickers on them or something. Pretty sure stickerless was banned in competition back then. So only casuals had stickerless cubes. As a sweaty teen I ran cubesmith halfbright stickers on mine. I still have it but I set it down in some oil or something and it ruined the green stickers. You used to be able to order it unassembled so you could put it together and sticker it up yourself. Don’t know if that is still a thing.
It's kinda funny watching this as a person who still has this cube as a main. Though I will soon get a new one, gotta get some new and fast(er) stuff, plus magnets!
Damn. I've been out of cubing since a little while after the panshi came out. Honestly, this video made me feel a bit lost on what the current state of cubing looks like. I guess there's no time like the present.
definitely, the current state of cubing is amazing. every single cube from the past year or two is way better than the cubes from the zhanchi era. it’s pretty much universally accepted that magnets make a cube better so every cube has them. one of the best cubes on the market right now is the RS3M 2020 from moyu, which is only $9, so the barrier to entry is super low. also since every cube is good we’re less focused on finding “the best” cube and more focused on finding cubes to fit our particular turning styles. it’s pretty great, maybe consider picking up an rs3m to see what things are like nowadays
This is when I picked up cubing again, after quitting for 2 years :) Zhanchi was my first and probably still favourite cube. It was the cube I got sub30 pb with. Unfortunately I don't have the cube anymore, I sold it way back.
It always had the torpedoes, you're thinking of the Guhong (v1 didn't have them, v2 did). Corner cutting and locking will improve a lot after a couple thousand solves. Also, some standard algs were different back then - good luck doing slices quick on this :) People who complained about the popping just had it tensioned too loose (and it can indeed explode), if you tension it adequately it won't pop (that's what the torpedoes are for).
thanks for pointing that out about the torpedos! i’ve done only a few hundred solves so far and i can already feel a difference and yeah lol, my u perms, g perms, and v perm are all super not great on this cube lol
My first cube was the Zhanchi 5. Never got that huge into cubing, capping at roughly 50sec solves. Got back into it when I randomly picked up a MoYu (not sure which one, it was literally just branded the "supercube" in Norwegian) in a book store because it was cheap (6$-ish). I'm still slowly progressing from the beginners method, but damn, stuff has really happened since that time when I first got the Zhanchi, hearing it was the best one on the market. I found this video because I was literally worried the insides of my Zhanchi had warped somehow
Great video. I have a zhanchi from ebay that has been broken in a lot without lube and it has a very distinct dry smoothness that is very unlike normal lube smoothness.
a few of my favorite cubes have gotten to that point as well, it really is much better than the feel of an un-broken in cube that’s just been lubed. i wish there was a way to make cubes feel like that instantly lol
Tbh if Dayan released this cube with magnets and their dual adjustment mechanism, it would still be able to compete with modern flagships. I'd say the same for old flagships as well, like the original WeiLong or even the FangShi Shuangren.
i dunno about that, i don't think lack of magnets is the only problem with this cube, when i made my video on the gan rs the lack of magnets really didn't affect my times too much. the zhanchi has a lot of other traits that make it not hold up to modern standards, like the corner cutting is nowhere near as good, it's slow, the size makes it awkward to use for me, etc. using this cube makes me feel like cube design has come a really long way since 2011.
@@CrimsonsCubes I've read that some Gan XS don't corner cut past 45, but can still get good times with them. It just depends on the turning style and how you set up the cube imo. Yes, it might be awkward since it's a full size cube when most cubes today are 56 or 55 millimeters, but that doesn't mean you can't adjust to it so you can get better with it. The magnets would just keep the cube more stable, and so you wouldn't misaligned while not have to rely on corner cutting to do all the heavy lifting. That's just my 2 cents, I haven't used a Zhanchi since 2012 and don't have one, so maybe my opinion is skewed.
that's true actually, a lot of gan cubes can't corner cut past 45 degrees, most of mine can't. my current main is the rs3m 2020 and it takes a bit of effort to corner cut at 45 degrees, but what matters is that the smaller corner cuts are super effortless, since during solves you're not actually ever corner cutting 45 degrees. also, the main problem I've found with the zhanchi is the reverse corner cutting. i think if you adjusted your turning style and heavily modded the zhanchi it could be good by today's standards, but imo modern cubes are worlds ahead right out of the box. that's also just my 2 cents based on only having the zhanchi for a few weeks
Wow this is crazy to watch haha. The guhong was my main until the zanchi came out. People would purposely remove the torpedoes because it would perform better, but yeah on looser tensions it would definitely pop, even with the torpedoes sometimes. I wish I still had mine.
Yep, mine falls apart if you look at it wrong (cut a corner too close). Lots of locks up, etc. I tightened all the screws and it's fine now. It's a very squeaky cube with lots of catches.
Im just getting back into cubing for the first time in 10 years and i honestly thought the zanchi would still be relivant because it was sooo ahead of everything back in the day. I was very wrong apparently there are magnets and maglev now???? Hahaha ya simple times back then.
We have corner to core magnets, edge to core magnets, magnets itself, and maglev and a hell lot more lubes, and the GAN 13 MagLev UV coated has all of that and a UV coating that makes it grippier than glossy plastic. Dang we have evolved.
yep it was from amazon, it was the usual “DaYan Rubik’s Magic Six Color Brain Toy For Children, Adults, Grandparents, Lawyers, For Brain Development Star Wars 99% Of Dentists Recommend” but alas the listing is no longer available
I bought a cube that I thought was a Zhanchi clone, but actually had the Dayan logo on it, so I'm not sure, for $3.99. It performs the same as my 50mm Zhanchi. Doing the 48 point edge mod on it completely gets rid of internal catches and makes it flow much better when turning fast. I'd say, without magnets it's at 80% of the flagship performance in 2020. I haven't tried a magnetic one but you'd have to use stronger magnets on it like n50 because the plastic is thick.
that’s how cubing was back in the day wasn’t it haha, in the future i might make a video where i mod this zhanchi with all the old techniques from back then
Crimson's Cubes I tried magnetizing it, got polarities wrong, got glue on the cube, dunked it in water, used WD-40 and trombone slide oil on it (left bad residue), and got a big ol’ scratch on it. Not my prettiest puzzle lol.
i barely did any research before recording this, so let me know if i got anything wrong & i'll heart your comment
and as always, feel free to post any questions you have and i'll answer as best i can!
It's good to know if you don't already, that the earlier versions of the Zhanchi were better than the later ones. They used softer plastic so they turned and corner cut a lot better. Those were the ones people set records with. But yeah the Zhanchi was the first cube I ever bought, and I got mine by the time they'd moved to the harder plastic, but I'll always love it regardless because it was my first. I've got far better cubes now like the gan xs. But just love the old fashioned feel of the Zhanchi. It's fun to play with
You could try and boron treat it. Is that even a thing people do anymore? I dunno. But people used to boron-treat their cubes so that the plastic would become much softer. And so that could be a way to get the same feeling as the original soft plastic Zhanchis
Great review. I like your style and commentary. A couple issues though. Just because im an old-timer who live through the zanchi days. Its good to know that getting a new cube back then was MUCH different to how it is now. Today i can buy a gan 356546xsmpromaster or whatever and its a monster right out of the gate. But bak then you would get a new cube and there was a week-long process of setting it up. It was an art (lol). You would have to take the whole thing apart and cut any flashing, file corners, tension it, lube it and then break it in over hundreds of solves. Then once ut was broken in you had to re set it up because it preforms differently once broken in. It was crazy, but i loved it. I would order diy kits because i like tinkering.
The days of the Zhanchi were truly a much, MUCH simpler time
Camera angle is good!
ZhanChi days were wild. The only other really comparable cube was the GuHong which we modded. Although nearly nobody, literally no one back then used stickerless really because it was all comp illegal.
Simple days. It was mind blowing when it came out. Took a while to break in though.
I remember back in the day being super against that dumb rule! That's why I bought a stickerless one... and never went to comp
The Zhanchi is still my main.. mainly because it’s the only 3x3 I still own.
Wow cool
I want to main a zanchi
lol same i also have it as my only cube
I mean at this point it doesnt have to be lol
One possible reason why some people's zhanchis pop often is due to the plastic, the zhanchis you get now are almost always made with a harder plastic than the original softer plastic zhanchi so the pieces go against eachother more roughly
the plastic only changes the feel not the anti popping mechanism. I don't think there is any difference in popping amount due to old plastic.
My OG zanchi popped 1/20 speed solves and 1/100 casual solves
@@ButteryCubes yea, i dont really know the reason why, its more than anything a theory
Damn, this brings me back. First speedcube I ever got and it was a great one to have. Also had the mini version of the 3x3, as well as the Dayan 2x2 and Megaminx. Haven’t really cubed since like 2014, so it’s really amazing how far it’s come since then
I remember buying a white zhanchi and stickerless guhong v2 back around 2014-2015. It tooks days of lubing, tensioning, and breaking in to get all the gumminess out of it. But my god those 2 cubes were ridiculously good during their prime.
Your reaction to the colors is hilarious. Back in the day, most people used cubes with stickers and if you didn’t like the color you would put cubesmith stickers on them or something. Pretty sure stickerless was banned in competition back then. So only casuals had stickerless cubes. As a sweaty teen I ran cubesmith halfbright stickers on mine. I still have it but I set it down in some oil or something and it ruined the green stickers. You used to be able to order it unassembled so you could put it together and sticker it up yourself. Don’t know if that is still a thing.
DIY kits are very much not a thing anymore, but i managed to get my hands on an old one. plan to make a video on it at some point!
It's kinda funny watching this as a person who still has this cube as a main. Though I will soon get a new one, gotta get some new and fast(er) stuff, plus magnets!
Damn. I've been out of cubing since a little while after the panshi came out. Honestly, this video made me feel a bit lost on what the current state of cubing looks like. I guess there's no time like the present.
definitely, the current state of cubing is amazing. every single cube from the past year or two is way better than the cubes from the zhanchi era. it’s pretty much universally accepted that magnets make a cube better so every cube has them. one of the best cubes on the market right now is the RS3M 2020 from moyu, which is only $9, so the barrier to entry is super low. also since every cube is good we’re less focused on finding “the best” cube and more focused on finding cubes to fit our particular turning styles. it’s pretty great, maybe consider picking up an rs3m to see what things are like nowadays
@@CrimsonsCubes Definitely will. Thanks for the briefing.
This is when I picked up cubing again, after quitting for 2 years :) Zhanchi was my first and probably still favourite cube. It was the cube I got sub30 pb with. Unfortunately I don't have the cube anymore, I sold it way back.
The zhanchi always had torpedoes. It was the first cube to ever have torpedoes. The first cube to have any substantial reverse cutting too.
One of my fave cubes back then. Just bought another one just to bring back memories.
It always had the torpedoes, you're thinking of the Guhong (v1 didn't have them, v2 did). Corner cutting and locking will improve a lot after a couple thousand solves.
Also, some standard algs were different back then - good luck doing slices quick on this :)
People who complained about the popping just had it tensioned too loose (and it can indeed explode), if you tension it adequately it won't pop (that's what the torpedoes are for).
thanks for pointing that out about the torpedos! i’ve done only a few hundred solves so far and i can already feel a difference
and yeah lol, my u perms, g perms, and v perm are all super not great on this cube lol
I bought mine in 2014. I like how it's considered an "old" cube.
I mean that was like 7 years ago, like even a 2 year old phone is a relatively "old" phone
My first cube was the Zhanchi 5. Never got that huge into cubing, capping at roughly 50sec solves. Got back into it when I randomly picked up a MoYu (not sure which one, it was literally just branded the "supercube" in Norwegian) in a book store because it was cheap (6$-ish). I'm still slowly progressing from the beginners method, but damn, stuff has really happened since that time when I first got the Zhanchi, hearing it was the best one on the market. I found this video because I was literally worried the insides of my Zhanchi had warped somehow
Great video. I have a zhanchi from ebay that has been broken in a lot without lube and it has a very distinct dry smoothness that is very unlike normal lube smoothness.
a few of my favorite cubes have gotten to that point as well, it really is much better than the feel of an un-broken in cube that’s just been lubed. i wish there was a way to make cubes feel like that instantly lol
fun fact: feliks zemdegs got a 5.66 in 2011-2012
1:30 nostalgic noises
Tbh if Dayan released this cube with magnets and their dual adjustment mechanism, it would still be able to compete with modern flagships. I'd say the same for old flagships as well, like the original WeiLong or even the FangShi Shuangren.
i dunno about that, i don't think lack of magnets is the only problem with this cube, when i made my video on the gan rs the lack of magnets really didn't affect my times too much. the zhanchi has a lot of other traits that make it not hold up to modern standards, like the corner cutting is nowhere near as good, it's slow, the size makes it awkward to use for me, etc. using this cube makes me feel like cube design has come a really long way since 2011.
@@CrimsonsCubes I've read that some Gan XS don't corner cut past 45, but can still get good times with them. It just depends on the turning style and how you set up the cube imo. Yes, it might be awkward since it's a full size cube when most cubes today are 56 or 55 millimeters, but that doesn't mean you can't adjust to it so you can get better with it. The magnets would just keep the cube more stable, and so you wouldn't misaligned while not have to rely on corner cutting to do all the heavy lifting.
That's just my 2 cents, I haven't used a Zhanchi since 2012 and don't have one, so maybe my opinion is skewed.
that's true actually, a lot of gan cubes can't corner cut past 45 degrees, most of mine can't. my current main is the rs3m 2020 and it takes a bit of effort to corner cut at 45 degrees, but what matters is that the smaller corner cuts are super effortless, since during solves you're not actually ever corner cutting 45 degrees. also, the main problem I've found with the zhanchi is the reverse corner cutting. i think if you adjusted your turning style and heavily modded the zhanchi it could be good by today's standards, but imo modern cubes are worlds ahead right out of the box. that's also just my 2 cents based on only having the zhanchi for a few weeks
I bought mine in 2014. I like how it's considered an "old" cube. That's like saying "Happy" is and "old" song.
well i mean yeah, 7 years is a long time, especially in cubing. have you tried a cube from the past two years?? the difference is insane
The point he’s making is that for most people, Happy is still considered relatively recent.
Wow this is crazy to watch haha. The guhong was my main until the zanchi came out. People would purposely remove the torpedoes because it would perform better, but yeah on looser tensions it would definitely pop, even with the torpedoes sometimes. I wish I still had mine.
Still have both of mine 😊
Nice video bro and dope thumbnail! Subbed
It's now 11 yrs old. Was released in 2010
my first cube. got in trouble for using this cube in class in 8th grade 😂.
it was guhongs that initially didnt come with torpedos not zhanchis
I just checked my amazon order history, and I got mine November 17, 2011. It never occurred to me to get another one because I like it just fine.
The RS3 M 2020 is like $8 and a lot better than a zhanchi
Yep, mine falls apart if you look at it wrong (cut a corner too close). Lots of locks up, etc. I tightened all the screws and it's fine now. It's a very squeaky cube with lots of catches.
Oh my sweet summer child. If you thought a Zhanchi was bad, you should try its predecessor: the Guhong. Remember: stickered with no torpedoes.
Oh the Zhanchi... my first real speedcube! At the time I thought it was amazing and beautiful compared to the ugly sanded down rubik's brand...
Im just getting back into cubing for the first time in 10 years and i honestly thought the zanchi would still be relivant because it was sooo ahead of everything back in the day. I was very wrong apparently there are magnets and maglev now???? Hahaha ya simple times back then.
We have corner to core magnets, edge to core magnets, magnets itself, and maglev and a hell lot more lubes, and the GAN 13 MagLev UV coated has all of that and a UV coating that makes it grippier than glossy plastic. Dang we have evolved.
WOW i have never met a zoomer cuber! HAHA but its an interesting POV to watch ahhaha
Nice vid.I subscroobled
That was my first speed cube 3 years ago and it was tiny so may have been a different version tbh.
there were a bunch of sizes and variants of the zhanchi back in the day, the 57mm was the standard version tho
@@CrimsonsCubes yeh i got the 43 millimetre
I remember the zhanchi it was my first cube
Judging by the packaging did you buy it from amazon? If so what was the name
yep it was from amazon, it was the usual “DaYan Rubik’s Magic Six Color Brain Toy For Children, Adults, Grandparents, Lawyers, For Brain Development Star Wars 99% Of Dentists Recommend” but alas the listing is no longer available
louder than my MX Blue switches
Where did you even get this cube?
It's quite amazing
Old days of the Zhanchi? Try the old days of the A5 and F2.
i absolutely would if it was possible to still find those cubes lol
Nah I like the new angle my dude I’d keep it
👌
Hi I subscribed
How much does it cost?
i paid $12.99 for mine
Me:
Zhanchi in 2024😂😂
I preferred the Guhong.
I bought a cube that I thought was a Zhanchi clone, but actually had the Dayan logo on it, so I'm not sure, for $3.99. It performs the same as my 50mm Zhanchi. Doing the 48 point edge mod on it completely gets rid of internal catches and makes it flow much better when turning fast. I'd say, without magnets it's at 80% of the flagship performance in 2020. I haven't tried a magnetic one but you'd have to use stronger magnets on it like n50 because the plastic is thick.
You might have the New Plastic Zhanchi, the Old Plastic Zhanchi is much better.
my one got a stripped core lol
Where did you buy that Zhanchi ?
amazon
hi
I have one, and I did a bunch of weird shit to it. Its now absolute garbage lol.
that’s how cubing was back in the day wasn’t it haha, in the future i might make a video where i mod this zhanchi with all the old techniques from back then
Crimson's Cubes I tried magnetizing it, got polarities wrong, got glue on the cube, dunked it in water, used WD-40 and trombone slide oil on it (left bad residue), and got a big ol’ scratch on it. Not my prettiest puzzle lol.
the things a cuber will do for good turning lmao
w8 so at the time of me making this comment you've only been a cuber for 2 years?!?!
more like a year and a half but yes
@@CrimsonsCubes bruh u liar u have bigg cubing knowledge
Old dayan are so loud
yep haha, nothing like the tengyun
Plz shout me out
This was painful to watch
well hey thanks for watching it anyways
Tf is a "zoomer"
boomer except with a z for gen z, zoomer, tldr very young and inexperienced