If I have a frame with a head tube angle of 73*, would I need a 17* stem to give me a horizontal stem?

Also whats a 84* stem? Isn't i the same as a 6*?

Most of the stems I see are 6 or 10*. How would these look horizontal at all?

Thanks.

get a stem that fits, not a stem that looks horizontal...

Can get a stem which fits as well as looks horizontal right?

Should have added that I am building a bike up, so I have options.

Not necessarily. Really depends on the headtube length and / or the number of spacers you use.

From a visual point of view I would personally go for (near) parallel to the top tube.

That said - fit comes first.

Yes.

I am spec'ing out a Parlee and had a similar question. I know what my XY coordinates are (pedal, seat, bars). once you have the right top tube length, head tube is the next controlling factor. Optimally you don't want more than 2 to 2.5 cm of spacers about the head tube. In my case I went with the longer head tube and -6 on the stem. I didn't care about look, but it will be horizontal.

The downside of my setup is that I only have 1cm of spacers so I won't be able to get the bar much lower. But I am already running a pretty big drop so I think it works. At least that's what Parlee reco'd!

Thanks guys.

rollin, I made a mistake - wanted it parallel to TT like you said.

I think I'll stick with a 6* flipped stem to start with.

Listen to Rollin, parallel to the top tube also looks best. I do have a -17 Ritchey on one of my bikes for both fit and l prefer the horizontal look.