Mounting Points

I skied the crap out of some 11/12' (blue) 182 Zelots with ST's on them. I went for Center mount and never regretted it. Plenty playful enough to ski NW trees and enough power and stability to give confidence on the rowdier lines. A+ for durability also. They are retired now but surprisingly still have some life in them after much abuse.

Good to hear another positive review.  One of the reasons I pulled the trigger on these skis was the very positive reviews.  The only downside seems to be the weight; however, these will be my "short lap" mid-winter ski so it's not like I'll be logging tons of vertical.

First, I love the Zealots too! Best ski I have ever owned and the weight is the only downside. With that said, light is right but weight is GREAT; especially for dealing with our somewhat heavier snow. For lifts, I would rather have a heavier ski than a wider ski.

Back to mounting, the manufacturer's boot center line is purely empirical and often moves depending on their athlete's feedback and current trends. The current trend is to keep moving bindings more and more forward. Example, for a 182cm Zealot, BD had the recommended alpine mount at 796mm in 2009:

d2x7l0jhvlx9iz.cloudfront.net/files/F09_BD_Ski_Mount_Specs.pdf

By 2012, they were recommending mounting at 835mm:

blackdiamondequipment.com/on/demandware....BD_MountingSpecs.pdf

which moved the mount 4cm forward. I ski this ski tele, and I started at 2cm forward (tempted by the same guidance you saw) and remounted 5 times (seriously!) and ended up 5cm rearward (I am pretty old school). I definitely would not go forward. My two friends that also ski 182 cm Zealots ended up -2 to 3cm of recommended. Hope that helps and good luck.

First, I love the Zealots too! Best ski I have ever owned and the weight is the only downside. With that said, light is right but weight is GREAT; especially for dealing with our somewhat heavier snow. For lifts, I would rather have a heavier ski than a wider ski.

Back to mounting, the manufacturer's boot center line is purely empirical and often moves depending on their athlete's feedback and current trends. The current trend is to keep moving bindings more and more forward. Example, for a 182cm Zealot, BD had the recommended alpine mount at 796mm in 2009:

d2x7l0jhvlx9iz.cloudfront.net/files/F09_BD_Ski_Mount_Specs.pdf

By 2012, they were recommending mounting at 835mm:

blackdiamondequipment.com/on/demandware....BD_MountingSpecs.pdf

which moved the mount 4cm forward. I ski this ski tele, and I started at 2cm forward (tempted by the same guidance you saw) and remounted 5 times (seriously!) and ended up 5cm rearward (I am pretty old school). I definitely would not go forward. My two friends that also ski 182 cm Zealots ended up -2 to 3cm of recommended. Hope that helps and good luck.

Great info. Thanks.