Neck / shoulder pain whilst cycling

Given that I can't ride a road bike any more for related reasons (see later) I may not be the best to advise, but without pics, various things spring to mind (some of which kinda tie up with Jimmy's), tho they may be worth what you've paid for 'em :

- do you have some flex in the arms ? - if straight, road shock will go straight up into your shoulders
- do you 'sink' into your shoulders and/or having 'winging'shoulder blades ? Try to relax your shoulders, keep your collarbones wide, and let your shoulderblades hug the ribs (not the same as fixing them - doing so also tends to stop any movement in your thoracic area which probably isnt a good idea)
- having the neck in more of an even curve may work better than 'folding' at any particular point (easily done since the neck's very flexible).
- a bit of a guess but the longer/lower stem may have worked by either by directing the force through your shoulders at a slightly different angle, or in moving your shoulders fwd a little actually making your upper back a little more upright.
- not too convinced about engaging-core-with-longer-stem argument, other than it may have additionally changed your position in some way (eg flatter back meant shoulders less parallel to ground).
- re core stability exercises, probably more relevant in *supporting* your lower back rather than strengthening your back as such, tho there's a handful of things that would do that including stabilising your shoulder girdle. And imo nothing that really does much for holding the longer/more extreme extension that the neck's in when cycling.

Word(s) of warning.
In the early 90s I built up a nice 'dale Criterium frameset.Slammed stem, comfy on hoods but rarely rode on the drops. Mebbe 15 yrs ago, riding home, on drops, way too tense in shoulders, massive headache sweeps up past ears, several physio sessions later and 4wks it finally dissipated - muscles going into spasm causing tension headache. Get occasional recurrences now but can generally massage them out, but can't ride a road bike, mtb sometimes ok, recumbent bikes are the default. There's several groups of muscles that might be contributing to the problem and I suspect it's different ones on different occasions. And despite being more flexible than probably most blokes that arent gymnasts or dancers, having a strong core and having practiced Pilates for mebbe 15yrs to a reasonably advanced level. Oh well..

I dont like suggesting to people that they spend money, but a bike fit session *might* be a decent alternative to getting it wrong and needing a physio at 40+ quid a session...despite thinking my back was pretty sound, a recent slight strain followed by some more challenging core work, and a few days later my mid/lower back's partly locked up ! Starting to free, but sometimes the body chucks in a reminder not to be a dick and take it for granted..

Be careful with neck pain or numbness in certain fingers or arm sections. I had a minor niggle for a few months which at The start of a 100 mile ride for suddenly got worse. Result inflamed trapped nerve in C6 vertebrae. Medical intervention- root nerve injection into spine and a year of altered riding position. I still have minor trouble, but with careful posture position I can ride 50 milers again.

Well the reason is easy to identify, you back muscles are working too hard to hold your position. Now that could be because you are pushing too much weight in your arms, so your back muscles is having to support the weight of your head, and deal with teh shocks coming through your arms which can't act as suspension rods, due to the weight they are carrying.

The fact that lowering your bars previously helped, I'd suggest that engaging your core adequately is the problem here. A more extreme position can often force you to engage your core more to support your weight, lowering the stress going through your arms into your spine.

However, you may find that pushign your saddle back adn a little down may encourage you to support your weight  through your core more... and discourage you to carry weight through your arms.

What this isn't looking at however is the strain a more extreme position puts on your upper spine as it has to more directly support the weight of your head. Sometimes, just because you are flexible and can hold these positions, it doesn't mean that other elements are going to complain.

So... I'd suggest looking at the following;

- moving your saddle a little readward and lowering it slightly (to counter the extra length the additional lay back willl cause)

- raising your bars a bit to see if a less extreme position helps relieve pressure

 - focus on some core stability work to get your back muscles engaging better

 - Try adjusting the angle of your hoods (if you sit in the hoods alot) so that they are further around bars (less pointy upwards). Sometimes having raised hoods woill encourage you to lock arms and again, load up your upper back / neck.