Originally Posted by
rpenmanparker
My experience is that carbon doesn't help much for getting to lightest weight in a stem (comparing to everything available), though maybe it excels for stiffness in the lightest models. I like the aluminum FSA OS-99. Almost as light as you can get and moderately priced. Only you can say if it is stiff enough. It is all about riding style.
and...too me at least and I am no lightweight, I don't feel any flex in name brand stems so the stiffness argument for me either Al or carbon doesn't apply. I have ridden both a lot. I like the aesthetic of a UD carbon stem partly...120mm Ritchey stem is about 120 grams..pretty hard to beat...C260 with unique bar clamp is slightly lighter.