Thanks for the posts on this - made me feel more confident when approaching the lbs this week. Anyway, bike now has a stem extender thingy that puts the bars a bit higher than the seat. It looks somewhat giraffe-like with a whole stack of extra spacers but wow what a difference! The neck pain is still there but I was able to go about an hour further before reaching the point where I had to stop and stretch That's a BIG step forward .

If all goes to plan I should be able to gradually remove the spacers over the next few months as muscle strength and posture improves. Woohoo I might be able to do long rides next (southern hemisphere) summer