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@Oswald
Road vibrations travel up the bike, through the fork and stem and handlebars into the rider's hands. Carbon fiber has great vibration-dampening properties, but In order to make the carbon strong enough to be a safe stem material, they overbuild it to add strength. This is why the highest quality alloy stems can be lighter and stronger than many carbon stems. Plus carbon stems look 'bling' which is great for the marketing department of a bike company.