It was another perfect summer Saturday in New York for the 2024 edition of Neutral Ground, presented by our friends at ACME.

I’ve recently started helping out at the ACME location in Brooklyn and was on hand to hawk some new merch at the ACME tent. Astonishingly, I only just found out why the event is named “Neutral Ground,” and I find it pretty brilliant. Most of the vendors compete with each other in the bike industry, and this event is a “neutral ground” for everyone to get together to show their wares and enjoy a weekend of riding and schmoozing.

What a weekend it was!

The expo

This year, ACME secured a road closure to expand the expo. With Allen Place closed, vendors had ample space to set up and showcase their high-end goods. No. 22, Factor, Moots, and Orbea were in attendance showcasing their lineup of bikes. Our friend Walter from Factor was in attendance with Unbound winner Lauren de Crescenzo. We got to check out some really cool custom painted Factors, including Lauren’s own, the Human Powered Health livery, and a really cool painted Ostro Gravel that was a collaboration with Chico Brenes. 

Walter went on to tell me about their Taiwan-based partner that creates and applies water-based decals. Chico’s frames have really incredible graphics, check out the whole story on Factor’s blog.

Vince from New York bike scene stalwarts Tuned were on hand to help with any last minute mechanicals and had set up next to our friends at SRAM. Of course, friend of the team and current CRCA leader Cesar and his fellow SRAM field rep Brian were on hand to showcase the new SRAM Red group.

POC, CeramicSpeed, and Wolf Tooth had tents with plenty of cool products to check out, as well.

We also can’t forget to mention Walk Bike Bedford and Bedford 2030 who are both doing incredible advocacy work to make Bedford and the larger region more safe for people not in cars! Walk Bike Bedford does an amazing job of evaluating our streets and spaces in real life, teaching people how our streets can be better via their guided walking and biking tours. Imagine if our city planners and engineers actually came out to walk the streets they created!

Bedford 2030 is also nobly fighting the good fight for carbon neutrality. Check out their resources and next steps on their website.

As the morning approached 9:30, riders began to stage on Allen Place and we got a full idea of just how many riders showed up to attend this year’s edition!

The riding

Sadly, the author did not get to attend any of the group rides that were scheduled. However, turnout was wonderful! A handful of TBD team members made it up from the city to soak in some of the best riding Westchester has to offer. All our team members did the gravel route, clocking two hours of ride time.

All rides came back to the expo in time to enjoy some incredible pizza presented by SRAM. Raffle prizes were announced, with full Q36.5 kits and huge swag bags going out to several riders. Overall, the vibes were expectedly impeccable. We can’t say enough great things about this event and hope that everyone can make it out again next year!

Photo galleries this year provided by Steph and James Reeder.