Redbullet

Is there a brilliant advice about how neck pain and stiffness can be cured during and after road riding? I wonder whether I can find 1-2 short time, simple exercises for this (there is not much time available).

Adjusting riding position is out of the question: the bike is the best fit of its class on producer’s website (say not very aggressive, some kind of “comfortable racing”) and it has integrated cockpit. Available adjustments are 1.5 cm higher handlebar and +1 cm saddle fore, but I already took those reliefs from the start and they don't fix the issue.

Calsun

Neck pain is the result of having your shoulders so low that you need to tilt your head up to see the road. I had a problem with bike helmet designs in the past and with a couple of them I used a blade to cut back the foam liner that was blocking my vision.

It is important to loosen the shoulder muscles while riding, even if it means sitting upright in the saddle. I will often stand up out of the saddle on hills as I am not concerned with air drag as slow speeds and it allows my back and shoulder muscles to relax for a few minutes.

Plank exercises are good for strengthening both the oblques and the shoulder and neck muscles before the ride. After the ride the use of ice packs can help (15 minutes only).

A theoretical bike fit for an abract rider is not likely to be the best fit for anyone. Every body is different, in particular in terms of arm length and torso length for people of the same overall height. Women tend to have shorter arms then men and this is why Georgena Terry started making bikes designed specifically for women back in 1985.

masi61

I try to not be so hypervigilant about always looking up the road. Once I peruse a lightly traveled road ahead, I will go ahead and drop my head to where my eyes are only looking partly down the road. Mainly I am looking downward toward my front hub. I may also rotate my head side to side, then let the weight of my head pull it back down to where I am facing down toward the road again.

How much of your riding is spent in the drops? Just curious.

Redbullet

Given the circumstances, I only play with the drops, no real time spend in that position before I fix the issue with the neck.

Mojo31

Develop a good stretching regime.

masi61

It sort of sounded like you weren't using the drops at all. But do you see my point about dropping your head to rest it? By doing this (where it is safe to do so) you are resting your neck so the drops become your friend.

Redbullet

Sure I do that. I don't feel the need to have a panoramic view of full road 100% of the time, so I successively drop my head. But it looks that my body still struggles to hold the head in that positions for 2-3 hours. Some sort of weak muscles or lack of flexibility (or a mix of both). I assume that is what I should address.

Redbullet

I have pretty much standard body ratios, nothing special. Would push-ups do the work instead of plank? I guess there are some strength / flexibility issues involved.

Redbullet

That's what I am looking for. I think there is a huge number of issues related to road riding that require many stretching techniques, but I need a time effective solution for only one issue: neck pain.

datlas 

I suspect your fit and/or position on the bike is not ideal. Best solved in person by a good experienced bike fitter.

Iride01 

Strengthening your neck and shoulder muscles will likely help. But don't discount how much strain it is on your neck to hold your head at an angle that allows you to see down the road. It's essentially like looking up at your ceiling for several hours while standing.

Put your helmet on and holding your head still, look up with your eyes. If the edge of the helmet is blocking some of your view, then you either need to see if you can adjust the helmet to keep the back of it lower and the front higher. Or you need a new helmet that doesn't come so low on your brow/forehead.

If that doesn't work, then you might need a new bike that it's geometry gives an even more relaxed position.

Redbullet

Mission impossible. The bike is fixed - integrated handlebar. There is no stem available to be changed. Handlebar height adjustment available is only 1.5 cm, full stop. It is the best possible fit. This is the modern view that will be targeted by most reputable providers. The only "comfort" is that I'm sure this is the best possible fit, I have chosen the best available size of the class.

datlas 

Understood. Improving your comfort may be a challenge then. Be sure you are in a good position (back as flat as possible, rotate pelvis forward) so you are not hunched over, that minimizes the craning of your neck. Do some stretches and fingers crossed you can get more comfy.

If you can't find a way to get this problem solved, you may have to go back to the drawing board and start over with a new bike with a better fit. Fingers crossed you can get this to work!

Redbullet

That's what I'm looking for (maybe some strength gain as well) . My intuition says it is a fixable issue, but when I search on the internet, I find so many exercises that it looks I should replace cycling with stretching... . There must be something straight forward and time effective to address this single issue.
As about bike fit: I think it started to lose its value, since more and more offers of quality bikes are integrated and do not allow much variance, other than than to choose the closest matching size.

79pmooney

Years ago i went to a health club that had a neck machine. I did the simple exercises of pushing forward, back and to each side. i did it for sailboat racing where i was holding my head in not so natural positions to keep my weight where it needed to be and see the high telltales on the sail all the time. Helpe djust as much on the bike. The club took out the machine when they upgraded the equipment, telling me there was too much chance of injury. (Sad. That was the machine that bet protectedme from injury.)

i bet that one could do the same exercises simply using ones hands for resistance. Hands behind your head and push back should do a lot is my guess.

genejockey 

A lot of it may depend on whether you roll your pelvis forward while keeping your back straight, or curve your back. Myself, I need a "wave" saddle that allows me to rotate my pelvis and keep my back straight. If your back is straight, then you don't have to bend your neck back so far to keep your head up.

Carbonfiberboy 

As above, the most common source of road bike neck pain is rounding the back, thus creating a sharper angle between neck and back than necessary. Rolling the pelvis forward is usually helpful. Think about dropping you stomach toward your top tube. You might want a mirror or a photographer to help get that back straighter.

Heavy dumbbell shrugs help as do back flys with dumbbells. One leans well forward, back almost horizontal and then raise the dumbbells out to the side so that you can feel the contraction in your neck supporting muscles.

john m flores 

Does you helmet have a visor?

LarrySellerz

Playing with fire here imo. Been burned like this. Stuff changes so fast.

eduskator

Good advices were given, I think it's a good starting point. It would also be a good thing to pay a visit to your / a physiotherapist to check your upper body and see what kind of stretching / exercice you can do to help.

I have discomfort (not pain) in my neck at the beginning of every season but it quickly disappears. How long have you been riding for? How long have you been riding this bike for?

waters60

Neck pain was starting to be my biggest obstacle. I’m 63 and really thought it might end my cycling. At work we have been doing stretches for a couple of years now, including neck stretches, tipping head back and to both sides. Of course my PT recommended this and I ignored him but as it is required at work I did it. My neck pain is greatly reduced.

MoAlpha

Position on the bike and a flat back are important at others have noted, but strength in the deep neck extensors is key. Isometric exercise, e.g., placing a towel roll behind the head and pressing backward against a wall for 30 second sets, is very helpful.

big john

What bike is this? If you have a unique fit issue there should be some kind of work around. Maybe a picture of you on the bike will help us help you.

Integrated handlebar?

mattcalifornia

I have this issue also, so I'm reading this thread with great interest. I think it has to do with my back posture and flexibility issues mostly, which I'm constantly working on to no avail.

This may seem completely stupid, but on my last ride, my neck was killing me. When I got home and undressed to get in the shower, I noticed that my neck loosened up a little when I removed the shoulder straps from my bibs. The bibs fit fine (not too tight in the straps), but as an experiment, I'm going to try to do a ride with bike shorts (i.e., not bibs). Anyone else have this experience?

john m flores 

Yes, I tried a pair of bibs that I thought fit well but I did notice tightness in my shoulders when using them.