# Weilong GTS / Gans Air / Valk 3 (Review & Comparison)



## Smiles (Jan 17, 2017)

For you guys who don't have the opportunity to try all of them!


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## Y2k1 (Jan 17, 2017)

gts ftw


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## Cankles of Fury (Jan 17, 2017)

The only negative about any of these, in my opinion, are the crappy stickers that came on my GTS  

Honestly I love all 3, all 3 are unique and different. At this point if I had to pick just one i would pick the Valk 3 but it's just because it fits me better personally.


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## Dom (Jan 18, 2017)

Awesome thread! Thanks for posting this. 
If I haven't tried all three, can I still vote? (Well I did. ^_^) I tried the GTS and the Valk. 

I vote Valk because it's super stable, reminds me of my Yuexiao's, and it has a STICKERLESS option. The others don't. 
I really like the feel.


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## Aysha (Jan 18, 2017)

I used to love the Weilong GTS but I switched to the Valk! It's extremely smooth and really suits my turning style. I absolutely love it's smaller size.

The performance is especially good after breaking it in and adding N35 magnets.


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## Tycubing (Jan 18, 2017)

All 3 cubes were my mains at one time. The GTS is a fast cube that has a lot of corner cutting if you set it up correctly. The Valk is an overall great cube: the stability, the speed, and the feeling are all great factor.

The Gans Air, though. Out of the box, it is pretty average and the price point is high. After setting it up and breaking it in, it shot down my times on 3x3 from a 14-15 second average with a Valk to a 13-14 second average.

One vote for GANS


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## dskids (Jan 18, 2017)

I am glad to say I have all three cubes because I love solving on all of them. But if I could only have one cube it would definitely be the Valk. It's just the perfect balance of fast and stable, with almost zero catches or lockups. It's also the best out of the box by a long distance, and responds very well to setup.


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## Dash Lambda (Jan 18, 2017)

Gans Air. No contest, for me at least.
It's faster, more fluid, more stable, and lighter than the GTS or Valk ever can be. Granted, my taste is a little different from normal, but still...


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## Smiles (Jan 18, 2017)

It's honestly hard to not like all 3.

I think I'm liking the gans air more. For you guys who chose the gans air, what springs did you choose and how did you set it up?


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## Tycubing (Jan 18, 2017)

Smiles said:


> It's honestly hard to not like all 3.
> 
> I think I'm liking the gans air more. For you guys who chose the gans air, what springs did you choose and how did you set it up?


clear. I set it up by putting traxxas 50k and silk in it and broke it in with about 1,500 solves. It is magical.


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## Dash Lambda (Jan 18, 2017)

Smiles said:


> It's honestly hard to not like all 3.
> 
> I think I'm liking the Gans Air more. For you guys who chose the Gans Air, what springs did you choose and how did you set it up?


I used the yellow springs for a while, then I got the G set and switched to blue.
As for the rest of the setup, well...
I made a thread on that.


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## Smiles (Jan 19, 2017)

I feel like green is slightly too loose and anything past green is way too loose. What tensions are you using? Like how far does the screw poke out of the plastic? (or inward)


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## Dash Lambda (Jan 19, 2017)

Smiles said:


> I feel like green is slightly too loose and anything past green is way too loose. What tensions are you using? Like how far does the screw poke out of the plastic? (or inward)


Like I said in that thread, the GES nuts are flush with the spokes.


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## Smiles (Jan 20, 2017)

Dash Lambda said:


> Like I said in that thread, the GES nuts are flush with the spokes.



Oh I read the post but didn't catch that; didn't realize what flush with spokes meant. My bad

I found that the tension is pretty good like that, but (using yellow springs) it seems like if I loosen it slightly from there, the friction drastically reduces but if I go slightly looser than that, then the layers are so loose that they move unintentionally and mess up my algs.

In other words, it seems like I have a very small range of tension that, if I'm off, causes the cube to be way too fast or way too slow. I just thought that was interesting because the difference in feel is so drastic that I basically am forced to use this specific tension setting.


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## Dash Lambda (Jan 20, 2017)

Smiles said:


> Oh I read the post but didn't catch that; didn't realize what flush with spokes meant. My bad
> 
> I found that the tension is pretty good like that, but (using yellow springs) it seems like if I loosen it slightly from there, the friction drastically reduces but if I go slightly looser than that, then the layers are so loose that they move unintentionally and mess up my algs.
> 
> In other words, it seems like I have a very small range of tension that, if I'm off, causes the cube to be way too fast or way too slow. I just thought that was interesting because the difference in feel is so drastic that I basically am forced to use this specific tension setting.


Well, given the short travel of the GES nuts, adjustments to the tensions are a bit magnified.

When I was using yellow nuts, I actually had them sitting about a half-turn higher than they are right now, tighter than that and the cube started to feel sluggish. I prefer as little resistance as possible, so what I consider fast and slow are a little skewed.


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## jaredye (Jan 20, 2017)

If you make Air M, I feel purple or blue GES is better because magnets can stabilize the cube, and a softer spring can improve reverse cutting.

I also made GTS M and Valk M myself. I expected GTS M to greatly improve the stability, but it turned out not as great as I thought it would be. Valk is already very stable so I wasn't expecting it to improve much. However, I would say Valk M is the best cube I've owned so far. It's hard to describe why magnets work wonder on Valk. I guess it's mainly because magnets help me align layers when turning so I have less need to rely on (particular) reverse cutting.


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## Dash Lambda (Jan 20, 2017)

jaredye said:


> If you make an Air M, I feel the purple or blue GES nuts are better because magnets can stabilize the cube, and a softer spring can improve reverse cutting.
> 
> I also made a GTS M and Valk M myself. I expected the GTS M to greatly improve the stability, but it turned out not as great as I thought it would be. The Valk is already very stable so I wasn't expecting it to improve much. However, I would say the Valk M is the best cube I've owned so far. It's hard to describe why magnets work wonders on the Valk. I guess it's mainly because magnets help me align layers when turning so I have less need to rely on (in particular) reverse cutting.


Well, the new 356 Air UM has the purple springs as default, so I guess Gans agrees.


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## Abare Killer (Jan 21, 2017)

jaredye said:


> If you make Air M, I feel purple or blue GES is better because magnets can stabilize the cube, and a softer spring can improve reverse cutting.
> 
> I also made GTS M and Valk M myself. I expected GTS M to greatly improve the stability, but it turned out not as great as I thought it would be. Valk is already very stable so I wasn't expecting it to improve much. However, I would say Valk M is the best cube I've owned so far. It's hard to describe why magnets work wonder on Valk. I guess it's mainly because magnets help me align layers when turning so I have less need to rely on (particular) reverse cutting.


Can I ask u which magnet grade did u use on the valk 3? Cause i wanna make one myself.


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## WastedMeerkat (Jan 21, 2017)

I've been out of the speedsolving game for a while, how do these compare to a properly worn-in and lubed ZhanChi? Don't have a very good frame of reference anymore.


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## Dash Lambda (Jan 22, 2017)

WastedMeerkat said:


> I've been out of the speedsolving game for a while, how do these compare to a properly worn-in and lubed ZhanChi? Don't have a very good frame of reference anymore.


Oh my...
Well, there are a few major differences:
-These do not pop. They just don't, you'd have to break the cube for it to come apart like that.
-These do not corner-twist. You can intentionally twist the corner if you force it, but it will never happen normally.
-These can full cut. Where the ZhanChi (and most other earlier speedcubes) have a region between forward and reverse cutting where it sort of locks up, these cubes usually don't (but it does depend on how you set it up). They can still lock up, but not nearly as easily.
-These are all lighter. This is a matter of taste, of course, but they are between ten and twenty grams lighter.
-These are all smaller. This is even more a matter of taste, the smallest is the Valk at 55.5mm.

Since the ZhanChi's generation, most of the changes have just been refinements. Getting a newer cube won't drop your times dramatically, but you'll probably like the feeling more, you'll lock up less, and you won't have to be careful at all about explosions or corner-twisting.


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## Smiles (Jan 23, 2017)

Thanks @Dash Lambda for your help!

I like the feel of the gans air more and more as I break it in, so I've decided to have it as my main.


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## jaredye (Jan 23, 2017)

Abare Killer said:


> Can I ask u which magnet grade did u use on the valk 3? Cause i wanna make one myself.



For Valk 3 I used N35 4mm*2mm. I feel that's perfect strength (at least for me). Placement doesn't matter that much in my opinion. And there is only quite a small region where you can place the magnets so I don't think it's possible to mess it up badly. I guess in general I like the magnets to be placed as further from the center as possible.

For Air, I made 2, one using N42 3mm*1.5mm and one using N35 4mm*2mm. I feel the former is too weak while the latter too strong. Its plastic is a bit thinner than Valk's and this makes a huge difference. If I were to do it again I'll probably get something like N52 3mm*2mm.


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## jaredye (Jan 23, 2017)

Dash Lambda said:


> Oh my...
> Well, there are a few major differences:
> -These do not pop. They just don't, you'd have to break the cube for it to come apart like that.
> -These do not corner-twist. You can intentionally twist the corner if you force it, but it will never happen normally.
> ...


To be fair new cubes still can corner twist and lock up. For some reason my Valk has corner twisted 3 times in about 1500 solves. But my Gans Air and GTS have never twisted (in combined about 20k solves).

And in general I wouldn't set up my cube to cut fully because that would be just too loose. I would set the tension so the cube can barely cut 45 forward or maybe a bit more. Reverse cutting is the main determinant for whether cube will lock up. That's where the newer cubes truly shine compared to the Dayan. I average just below 18s and I doubt if I can get below 20 ao100 with Dayan.


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## Dash Lambda (Jan 23, 2017)

jaredye said:


> To be fair new cubes still can corner twist and lock up. For some reason my Valk has corner twisted 3 times in about 1500 solves. But my Gans Air and GTS have never twisted (in combined about 20k solves).
> 
> And in general I wouldn't set up my cube to cut fully because that would be just too loose. I would set the tension so the cube can barely cut 45 forward or maybe a bit more. Reverse cutting is the main determinant for whether cube will lock up. That's where the newer cubes truly shine compared to the Dayan. I average just below 18s and I doubt if I can get below 20 ao100 with Dayan.


I did say they can still lock up, but for corner twisting... That's weird. I haven't used my Valk 3 very heavily, but it hasn't corner twisted on me. Maybe I just haven't used it enough.
As for the others, my GTS probably has around 1,500-2,000 solves on it and my Air probably has 5,000+ and nether of those have corner twisted.

I just did an average of 12 with both the ZhanChi and the Air:
ZhanChi: 16.50, best 12.18, worst 17.95
Air: 15.73, best 11.72, worst 18.15

I had a lot of 17's with the ZhanChi because of reverse cutting, so yeah, looks like that's a major issue. Still, doesn't make a decisive difference in the overall time, just got a little annoying.


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## Perfectionist (Jun 9, 2017)

Howdy!

Which of these 3 is the quietest, or can be made to be quiet with a little modding? (I especially hate spring creak lol!)

Can they all be opened so cotton/foam can be squeezed inside the pieces?

Does adding magnets increase or decease the noise they make?

Thanks for your advice folks!


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## Dash Lambda (Jun 9, 2017)

Perfectionist said:


> Howdy!
> 
> Which of these 3 is the quietest, or can be made to be quiet with a little modding? (I especially hate spring creak lol!)
> 
> ...


All three cubes can be fully dismantled, the easiest being the GTS (the caps are held on with pegs), next being the Air (each piece has a screw), and the hardest being the Valk (unified feet with a split piece structure, people seem to have found it rather fragile).

In terms of noise:
-Valk: By far the loudest. I think it's because of the open cuts on the corner pieces, but it makes a very noticeable and generally irritating sound. I don't think it can be called clacky or clicky, it just sounds like it's moving. As my mother has described it: "It sounds like the plastic is broken in some way even though it's not."
-GTS: This cube makes a more high-pitched clicky noise with a lower pitch clackiness. It's on the loud side of cubes, and I've definitely had people notice it when I use it in public, but it's not _that_ loud.
-Air: This is the only cube I have that I've been able to be effectively silent with. It's one of the quietest cubes on the market, if not _the_ quietest.

As for spring noise, properly lubricating the cubes eliminates it in all three. If you want to be absolutely sure, though, the Air is the only one where spring noise is technically impossible, as the nuts contain the spring and don't rotate on either end. I have encountered a bit of spring noise from the springs compressing, but only for the first few solves after putting new ones in.


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## Perfectionist (Jun 9, 2017)

Dash Lambda said:


> All three cubes can be fully dismantled, the easiest being the GTS (the caps are held on with pegs), next being the Air (each piece has a screw), and the hardest being the Valk (unified feet with a split piece structure, people seem to have found it rather fragile).
> 
> In terms of noise:
> -Valk: By far the loudest. I think it's because of the open cuts on the corner pieces, but it makes a very noticeable and generally irritating sound. I don't think it can be called clacky or clicky, it just sounds like it's moving. As my mother has described it: "It sounds like the plastic is broken in some way even though it's not."
> ...



Awesome reply dude, thanks!

Does the Gans Air get even quieter with foam installed?

Is there a material which is better to use than foam - polystyrene or wool etc?

I take it that the Air Ultimate and Air Magnetic cannot be opened so cannot be filled with anything?

I cannot find anywhere that sells an Air in the Stickerless version - does Gans only make the Stickered variety?


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## JustAnotherGenericCuber (Jun 9, 2017)

Perfectionist said:


> Awesome reply dude, thanks!
> 
> Does the Gans Air get even quieter with foam installed?
> 
> ...


Yes, gans only makes stickered cubes. If you want the quietest cube ever, get the gans 356s v2, but if you want much better performance that is a little bit louder, get the air.


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## Dash Lambda (Jun 9, 2017)

Perfectionist said:


> I take it that the Air Ultimate and Air Magnetic cannot be opened so cannot be filled with anything?
> 
> I cannot find anywhere that sells an Air in the Stickerless version - does Gans only make the Stickered variety?


For those I can answer:

-That's correct, the Ultimate versions have the screw wells removed and the caps glued to save on weight. I do wonder, though, why they can't do something like other capped cubes where the pegs hold with friction. I suppose its strength wouldn't be quite to Gans's standards.

-Even if Gans doesn't make 'em, the Cubicle has shown before that they'll just go ahead and take the stickers off anyway: https://thecubicle.us/gans-unstickered-p-7877.html


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## Perfectionist (Jun 10, 2017)

JustAnotherGenericCuber said:


> Yes, gans only makes stickered cubes. If you want the quietest cube ever, get the gans 356s v2, but if you want much better performance that is a little bit louder, get the air.


Really - so the older model is quieter than the new Air and U/UM?

Does the 356s V2 have much spring creak? Can the pieces be opened or are they glued?
Is the performance of the V2 only a little worse, or a lot worse than the Air?

Thanks!


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## Perfectionist (Jun 10, 2017)

Dash Lambda said:


> For those I can answer:
> 
> -That's correct, the Ultimate versions have the screw wells removed and the caps glued to save on weight. I do wonder, though, why they can't do something like other capped cubes where the pegs hold with friction. I suppose its strength wouldn't be quite to Gans's standards.


Do you think it would be possible to pry the pieces apart and re-glue them - or would that break the pieces, or just ruin the cube even if they don't break?

Thanks!


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## Dash Lambda (Jun 10, 2017)

Perfectionist said:


> Do you think it would be possible to pry the pieces apart and re-glue them - or would that break the pieces, or just ruin the cube even if they don't break?
> 
> Thanks!


Actually, to be precise, they aren't 'glued'. Gans says they use a plastic cement, which dissolves and welds the plastic, which is much stronger than a normal adhesive.
That essentially means you'd break the cube.


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## Perfectionist (Jun 10, 2017)

Dash Lambda said:


> Actually, to be precise, they aren't 'glued'. Gans says they use a plastic cement, which dissolves and welds the plastic, which is much stronger than a normal adhesive.
> That essentially means you'd break the cube.


In that case, I'm gonna start bombarding Gan with emails saying they should produce a new cube which has all the pieces pre-filled with foam - they can call it the Air Quiet UM !


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## JustAnotherGenericCuber (Jun 10, 2017)

Perfectionist said:


> Really - so the older model is quieter than the new Air and U/UM?
> 
> Does the 356s V2 have much spring creak? Can the pieces be opened or are they glued?
> Is the performance of the V2 only a little worse, or a lot worse than the Air?
> ...


The pieces can be taken apart, they have screws holding them together. When I got my 356s V2, there was some spring noise on two of the sides. I don't have the air to compare it with, but from what I've heard, it is faster, more stable, and lighter (the s v2 flexes A LOT and doesn't easily stay in a cube shape). Overall, I'd say the Air is a better combination of quietness and performance, but if it is too expensive for you, get the 356s V2 lite (what I did).


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## Nadesh Ragunath (Jun 24, 2017)

Valk is good enough for an intermediate or pasive speedcuber but Gans air can become faster if you are active solving the cube ..So it depends on the cuber itself..


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## UnspeakableRebel (Aug 4, 2017)

The MoYu Weilong GTS is the best option of the three for cubers who are relatively cheap, have a turning style that flows smoothly, and like their cubes good out of the box. However, cubers that like experimenting with different lubes and hardware probably won't like the GTS. 
The QiYi MoFangGe Valk 3 is the best option for cubers who are open to paying but not too much, have a slow, stable, and rough turning style (like I do), and are fine with breaking in their cubes. Cubers who require magnets in their cube shouldn't get this since the Cubicle Valk M is $49 on thecubicle.us.
The Gans 356 Air is the best option for cubers who want to get the good stuff for more money, hate heavy cubes, and love to customize their cubes since the Gans 356 Air has customizable springs, lubes, and you can magnetize it easily for very little cost. Cubers who don't feel up to the challenge of customizing their cubes shouldn't get this.

Overall, I like the Gans 356 Air because it is light, which I adore, I can DIY magnetize it, I can change the springs to there's no tensioning needed, and it's just really good stuff.


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## piggo1228 (Aug 25, 2017)

gan air um is good. stable, fast, adjustablee. if you can get it get it


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## Sean Fei (Aug 28, 2017)

JustAnotherGenericCuber said:


> The pieces can be taken apart, they have screws holding them together. When I got my 356s V2, there was some spring noise on two of the sides. I don't have the air to compare it with, but from what I've heard, it is faster, more stable, and lighter (the s v2 flexes A LOT and doesn't easily stay in a cube shape). Overall, I'd say the Air is a better combination of quietness and performance, but if it is too expensive for you, get the 356s V2 lite (what I did).


When I first got mine, it was fast and smooth, but now about half a year later, it is very very very sluggish, despite no lube in it, and also it locks up if you corner cut more than 30 degrees. Idk if the master model did this, but I switched to a Valk for my main.


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