In my opinon, there is nothing clunkier looking than the modern threadless stems that "expensive" bikes come with, and nothing sleeker than the old school 22.2mm solid stems. I have two adjustables on two different bikes. They were installed so I could define my setup, as a temporary measure. Eventually, I'll replace them with Nitto Technomic stems. I haven't noticed any handling issues. They are definitely not as ugly as typical threadless units because they are well sculpted. But, beauty is in the eye of the beholder...