Hi Guys,
How do you keep your heads up / look forward when riding without having any pain?

Tilt your pelvis forward a bit. Your back will flatten and it'll be easier to keep your head up.

Where's the pain? And how does it feel?

+1. Need more info.

While on the tops or drops or? Pic of your bike? Saddle to bar drop? etc. There's a reason why not everyone can ride a road bike. I have several peers with neck and back issues that have resigned themselves to the more upright positions of urban/commuter bikes with flat bars.

Get a professional bike fit.

Generally too much pressure on your hands, which causes you to tense your shoulders and neck, which makes it hurt.

The simplest way to fix this is to move your saddle back. It's necessary to readjust your reach and your saddle height when you do this. The next way is to get stronger and your core and back.

The way it's been explained to me by fitters is to think about what happens when you're standing straight up and then try to sit down. Your butt goes back and your upper body goes forward to maintain your balance. What you're trying to do is lean forward without moving your butt back, so you're off balance, and using your upper body to hold yourself up.

i don't, but if exert myself enough my bursting lungs and the searing pain in my legs mask it well enough.

i'm only half kidding.

There's a lot of bogus information on this topic, some of it possibly from me, but one quick solution is to raise your handlebars. Drop bars were developed to allow a comfortable cruising position on the tops, with the option of going to the drops to get aero. Over the decades people have lowered the bars until the tops and hoods are nearly where the drops used to be. Works for some pros, who are 10 percent body fat and can train six hours a day. For the rest of us, maybe not. When I bought my Atlantis five years ago I followed Rivendell's advice and set it up with the bars level with the saddle. I was instantly more comfortable, and eventually faster because I could ride farther without pain.

Respectfully, I have always subscribed to the philosophy that saddle fore/aft was strictly for pedal stroke adjustment and that reach issues should be addressed with the stem. When you throw off your pedal stroke, you open the door to many other issues, such as premature fatigue, knee issues and foot trouble.

OP, can you post a pic of you and your bike, or at least provide details on frame and stem size and your height and build? It's a place to start.

Flatballer isn't suggesting moving the saddle to fix a reach problem. He's suggesting it to fix a weight distribution problem. There's a good chance the OP has the saddle too far forwards relative to the BB.

OP, also make sure that your helmet does not have a visor, and that your glasses don't block your vision when you look up. Both of those can make you have to tip your head farther back to see up the road.

I do wrestlers bridges in the gym, with weights as needed, to strenghten my neck muscles.

You know...good point about the glasses. My cycling glasses have a thick "top" frame on them, as opposed to my nice sunglasses / regular glasses.

Guys,
I'll try to get a pick as soon as possible.

I should mention that I am new to road bike, and come from a mountain bike background, so the geometry and positions are new to me...and simply need to work the muscles I've never worked before (lower back, centre of my neck). There is no pain on my shoulders or anywhere else...just the the center of my neck from looking up. When I am in the tops, I am ok. Just the hoods / drops.

I am on a fitted 54CM Trek Madone 5.2 H2 w/ 90mm 7 degree stem (original was 100mm). Stem is angled down of course.

Seat is more "forward" than average, but this was purely for Knee over Pedal and had nothing to do with compensating for reach. My knees have the proper bend in them, and everything is working good except the centre of my neck.

The only thing I do notice myself having to do is move my butt back onto the seat, as opposed to carrying my weight with my hands. Maybe 1-2cm adjustment to get my seat-bones "realigned" with the saddle (which btw fits me great when I am positioned properly)

I am 5'9, 150LB, and pretty flexible (hence the H2).

This could just require me to ride a bit more to get used to the new positioning.

The bike was fit properly (6 pt fit, not machine / BG fit) by a shop that caters to all levels, including racers / advanced riders. The shop had me on the trainer twice and said I looked good when on the bike, my back looked great, they said I looked flexible for the fit that was configured for me, and had no impression that I was "Stretching" or anything.

Knee over pedal spindle is total BS. Whenever I get a fitting, I make sure they don't subscribe to KOPS and that they use the goniometer for saddle height. The research (what little there is) doesn't point to KOPS or heel on pedal or inseam length * some number, or any of that other crap.

Flip it until you adjust.

I know the shop does have a goniometer, but instead, they used a metal weight with me.

Isn't that against the rules here

Never hear anyone recommending to flip it back upwards

I thought everyone just flipped them down for the garage door photo shoot.

There is some truth to that. I sort of sponteneously did a 140 mile solo ride today. Haven't ridden that distance since last summer. My road bike has a lot of drop and really isn't set up for that kind of distance. Anyway, my neck was gradually getting fatigued and I knew I was in for some real suffering up the road. Around mile 80 I met up with a group of riders and we quickened up the pace. My legs were searing, but my neck pain was drowned out by the adrenaline.

For what its worth, I normally ride around with my stem flipped down, but when I set out for a really long ride, flip it up. Seems to prolong the comfort. It only takes about five minutes to flip it. I neglected to do this in the above post.

I think you made this up

Seriously, the fit advice is sound, but there may be some out there that are the exception. I think for fitting yourself, knee over spindle is a good start. I should have been more clear in stating that moving a saddle for any reason aside form pedal stroke is bound to cause other problems. I have never had a pro fit, so this goniometer thingy may prove me wrong.

The reason there are so many different responses OP is because there are a lot of things that can influence neck comfort.
Posture is big...without even changing your bike. Fitness is key...necks do get a bit stronger.
Saddle setback does take more weight off the hands which go up the arms into the traps and the neck.
Above has been mentioned...but will give you one that maybe you don't know. In my experience, a cockpit that is too short is hard on my neck.
I have tried every position under the sun...as I am inveterate about my fit. You mentioned you went to a shorter than stock stem. This never works for me. A tight cockpit puts pressure up the arms and into the base of the neck.
So also consider cockpit length over and above handlebar height.

these help some, pretty cheap too.

https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...99_-1___202365

Nicely done!

It's all about being centered on the bike.

That's because there's a lot of idiots here, and a lot of people being sarcastic. Do whatever it takes to make your bike fit. No one is going to mistake you for a pro so having a "pro" stem is dumb if it makes you hurt. Heck, my race bike has the stem flipped up (it's got a short head tube). No one's said a word about it to me.

Many road racers/riders prefer slightly behind KOPS. I set my fore-aft saddle position based on how evenly the load is spread between quads and glutes (saddle back recruits the glutes more; forward uses the quads more) and by how the weight distribution feels. It winds up being a couple cm behind KOPS.

Those wrestlers bridges work the same muscles you're describing. I do the 'get the shoulders just off the floor' kind.

My fitter doesn't use a goniometer. He has a nadramatron. And to tell you the truth, I sometimes enjoy it. Is it wrong?