another point, depending on the smoothness of the ground and if you are going in a straight line, i sometimes hold the bars very loosely but in a controlled way. this way, my hands are not absorbing all of the bumps like when im holding onto the bars very tightly.

as for neck strain, i had that but a very minor case. i installed a riser stem on my 7.3 and 7.4 bikes and now the bar is more upright and i am not straining at all when riding.

fwiw.