>>1859046>then i have no idea why mtb stems look so uglyIt's for a few reasons. One is they're typically welded, not forged, which is a more modern, cheaper, production method, and lighter. Kind of parallel to lugs vs tig frames. The sexiest quills, nitto, cinelli, etc, are forged. But some high end road quill stems were also welded, like pic rel, very good, light, and some profile ones.
Another is they tend to point up rather than have a 7 shape with the stem parallel to a parallel top tube.
Also mtb quill stems are commonly 1 1/8" not 1" which looks less svelte.
The one in OPs pic is hideous because it has an open faceplate, which was never a classic thing, and only came in after people got properly used to threadless ease of install and demanded to ruin new quill stems.
Imo mtb quill stems can actually look pretty cool especially when they're super long or have canti pulleys or stops in them.
