I've moved from my chopped risers on a basically flat stem lifted high to this set up (which I'm pretty sure puts me in the jackass category when it comes to common sense) of flat bars on a drop stem at med height. Both sets of bars are pretty short but I started with them longer. It was a matter of personal choice for me to chop em down so far (although the grips are super long ie: are wider than my hand in wool mittens, and i have since put a light and a front BMX style brake on which should give you an idea of how much bar their is) because I wound up never using the wider part and didn't like all that excess junk hanging off so cut em down. Also I switched to a bike that was a little bigger and liked the sprintier feel.

note: the stem has since been changed to a 100, the 90's on the drop bars on a bigger bike that needed it.