Originally Posted by cyccommute
But I think you really nailed it on the high rise stems. It's not that they look cheap but that they look dorky and Heaven forbid that anything should "look" dorky! As with so much of modern mountain biking, it's about fashion and not necessarily function.
Less of a look thing, the lower smaller stem with risers >to me< feels to be better\stronger for leverage over the front wheel.
Also for leverage I prefer my hands higher, risers.
I simply think frames involved with lots of leverage evolve to have longer -higher headtubes\short stem and risers bars.
And a long stem at an angle greater than than your downtube will look ugly as sin. 