Originally Posted by
topflightpro
If you are not sure of the fit or look, I suggest going on eBay and dropping $10 on a cheap stem that has the length and angle you want. If you like it, then you can go out and buy a nicer stem. If not, you toss it your spare parts bin - I find it nice to have a wide variety of stems.
Another idea is to hit up a bike shop (that you regularly patronize) for some take-off stems. You can walk away with a few stems, try them out, and see what the net effects are, pay whatever for the stem you want and return the rest.
A third idea is to hit up a friend that has a gazillion stems around who has done what topflight has suggested (and has a bin of various stems). I've helped some teammates with stems/fit and have dug into my cache of stems to help them fit their bike.