jowwy thank you I think I might just push it to 45mm.
fossyant your first point is a good one but I think they look so ugly and your second point is sooooo right but as much as I would like to my old back cannot take it.
Don't 'push' the recommendations on a carbon fork steerer, where failure can be fatal. (Chap in the US died a couple of weeks ago due to carbon steerer failure...
http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/...mpany-comments-on-cyclist-s-death-in-Rehoboth) I'd ask Focus what they advise (assuming you have a new Focus fork?)
If your back won't take it, use a more upright stem. Any LBS can order these...
http://www.extrauk.co.uk/product/detail/SystemEX/MTB_Stems/2049/ Use this calculator to work out what impact angle and length have on hand position...
http://alex.phred.org/stemchart/Default.aspx
If the stem alone won't solve the issue and a longer spacer stack is needed, get a steel fork with a steel steerer and add as many spacers as you like.
And, as suggested above, it is a road bike, and backside-up, head-down is what makes it fast. With time, your core strength will improve and it will get easier. I am currently training my corpulent front and ailing back to withstand a more aerodynamic position, one 5mm spacer a month, on a very long steel steerer.
Can someone also tell me why the forks stems are made so long when a big part of it needs to be cut off. Thanks
Manufacturing costs. Same fork for all size bikes. It was a very big factor in the adoption of the Ahead standard over the threaded quill standard, which required different forks for different size frames.