SammyJ 

https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2...shermers-neck/

Pasted the link from a cycling mag. My neck got so I could not lift it up, the only way to stop the pain was to stand straight. A facebook group cycling over 60, had lot of good information, A Hybrid bike would keep me vertical.

Meet my new ride.

Cannondale Quick CS3, Stand/Reach is 1.66 multiple rides no and no neck issues.
As I'm more vertical, I no longer concern my self with speed, it's just distance and enjoy the ride, and I am!

Carbonfiberboy 

Whatever. Another option might have been to get yourself fit rather than change your bike. My bike is the best doctor I ever had, helping and encouraging me to stay fit - or I am grateful for the bike which helped me stay fit. Still riding the same fit I had 57 years ago. Which, not that.

gorillimo

Do what you need to do to be able to ride. I had an accident which caused a three level neck fusion. Can’t make the bend to handle drop bars anymore. Going to a touring tbike. And you know, I’m enjoying riding more than i have in years. I don’t care about speed, I don’t care how far I’ve gone. I just ride explore and have fun. Life is good!

gif4445

Whatever keeps you moving! Personally I'd rather be riding the John Deere in your pic than flat bars, but to each his own. Best of luck!

shelbyfv

Do what you have to If you continue to deteriorate you can always ride a 'bent! Or an ebike. Or an ebike 'bent trike!!

berner

I've had neck problems in the past but have learned how to deal with them. In the Spring when mileage begins to ramp up, I've had sore necks due to neck muscles not quite up to the work of supporting the head on a drop bar bike. I do neck exercises to strengthen those muscles. This was a permanent cure and I no longer have that problem. I do sometimes wake up with a stiff neck due to a poor sleeping position. Stretching the neck muscles in the four points of the compass and then pressing on neck vertebrae 'till they pop back into place produces immediate relief.

canklecat

Yup, my C1-C2 are permanently damaged from a 2001 wreck, and exacerbated by being hit by a car in 2018. I still ride road bikes but each bike, including my hybrids, is set up a little differently. So when the neck pain really bugs me I switch to another bike. That usually helps. But the upright hybrid tends to only move the pain to another part of the neck, shoulders and back.

Sometimes the drop bar bikes are a little more comfortable. Depends on height and reach. I'm often fiddling with bar height, stem length, hood angle, etc.

I might eventually need to switch to a recumbent. But not today. I tried a friend's recumbent a couple of years ago and couldn't get used to it, at all. It felt so awkward and the peripheral view was so poor I'd rather not ride at all. I suspect the only way I'd consider it would be with an e-assist motor to scoot out of traffic danger zones more easily.

I see a guy near my neighborhood riding an arm propelled recumbent. He's a lot tougher and braver than I am.

fietsbob

See Shermer's neck

SammyJ 

i appreciate your comments without knowing the details. Thousands of miles on a list of road bikes with drop bars. 2 months ago I was in the drops pushing against a head wind. And loving it. My neck is just fine, unless I’m holding my chin up. PT and exercises did not help.

and change in riding posture did.