Mountain or road bike stem

[dr1445]

I am looking at building a up a road bike with flat bars, I see the handle bar stems listed as road and mtb. I am just wondering the pros and cons since I have zero experience with threadless stuff. I plan on running an 8 spd on the rear end and double wheel up front, I have some acera 8 spd shifters I will relocate from my old puch, the puch to return to its original configuration with flat bars and stem shifters.

[cyclerUK]

There is no real difference between road and MTB stems. Pick any that suits you.

Just match up the sizing for the bike steerer and the handlebars. The steerer tube will be either 1" or 1.1/8". The handlebar diameter though come in various sizes so watch out for this.

The other choice is the length of the stem.
:- http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_st-z.html#stem