I have never been a fan of the technomic for myself but have recomend and sold lots of the in the past. I am a big fan of the basic Kalloy 'hybrid' type stem and use them often but they can be a hard to get around some bars. It took me awhile to warm up to the quill apapter but I use them on several bikes these days.

Actually I think road bikes look their best with long stems horizontal to the toptube stretching the rider out "Italian Style". In my younger days I would have scoffed at the thought of anything else on my bikes. Today with another 20 or so years under my wheels, I find a taller more confortable stem is the way to go.