I had been riding a large frame with a 70mm stem which always felt a bit cramped so after a good demo ride ordered and built up an extra large frame with a 50mm stem as per the demo bike.
The new frame used the same forks, stem spacers and 20mm riser bars from my old bike but after a few rides I started to get neck pain which caused really bad headaches.
Switching to a 30mm riser eased this slightly but although the headaches have stopped I still have a stiff neck after a ride. I’m looking for advice on the most efficient way of raising the bars slightly to try and stop the aching. I have about 15mm of spacers under the stem but can’t raise it any higher without replacing the steerer or buying new forks which is obviously an expensive option and would rather not run a higher riser bar if possible.
I could shorten the stem by 10mm if that would make much difference without affecting the handling too much, otherwise I guess it’s new fork time and add an extra 20mm or so to the steerer.

How tall are you? Geometry of the bike etc?

Buy a new neck. Or if you want to save some money, have you tried oiling your neck? Need more information.

I’m 6’4, have gone from a large Orange Five to an XL Santa Cruz 5010. The new bike feels much better apart from being slightly too low at the front which is causing the neck strain.
I’m just trying to figure whether reducing the length or increasing the height of the stem by 10mm, which is going to make most difference.
I have been oiling my neck regularly but unfortunately is not helping.

Tried moving the saddle forward in the frame? Do you feel like you are having to bend your neck excessively to look ahead far enough?

take the peak off your helmet

Physio.

Unless you are a complete mutant, the amount of neck flex required to look up shouldn’t be enough to cause issues.

Guessing you don’t ride a road bike at all?

Cheers all. I’ll give the saddle adjustment a go. I don’t feel like I’m looking up too much unless I’m on a long straight section, road etc. The peak on my helmet is adjustable and isn’t an issue. I think physio would probably help, I occasionally ride a cx bike and don’t experience any problems then.

how is the ETT length on the new bike compared to the old?

You could also try rolling the bars back or forward to suit. That will help position your arms/neck/wrists in a straight line. Experiment.

The ett on the old frame is 620mm and 654mm on the new. With a 70mm stem on the old frame and now with a 50mm stem, I’m obviously stretching 14mm further on the larger frame.

how does the stack on the new bike compared to the old? I had a bike fit yesterday and was very sensitive to neck pain and we couldn’t go as low as we wanted at the front because of this. If the stack is much lower then bringing the stem up 10mm or even 5mm might fix it.

I’m using the same forks with the exact same amount of spacers (approx 15mm) as I had on the old frame. Unfortunately the steerer isn’t long enough to fit any more spacers so it’s a toss up between spending a few pounds on a shorter stem and hope it works without making the steering too twitchy or spending a load of cash on new forks for the sake of a few mm of extra steerer!