More opinion about harshness etc:

My first bike I bought was very harsh indeed. It was a steel old style MTB with no suspension. I remember very well the jars that came through the handlebars when riding over shallow bumps. Since then I think the riding style is changed, because I ride those same bumps with folding bikes and no sensation of harshness coming into the arms. I feel the bike taking a hit but it stops there. With Big Apples, I clearly feel the bike taking less of a hit but I can't honestly say there is a difference to me. I also tend to jerk up on the bars when flying over little bumps to reduce their effect. I even do it on my fully suspended bikes (Birdy and Moulton) because I dislike feeling the bike take a hit.

So if you are riding rigidly on the bike, or heavily, bumps would travel into your body. Perhaps the comment about bike harshness is a reflection of riding style?

About QRs: Clean and lube the sliding surfaces of the quick releases. This make a huge enormous amount of difference on how hard it is to operate the levers. I would feel apprehensive about levers breaking in my hands if they were too hard to operate. Lubing actually brings about the opposite effect: I frequently wonder how so little effort can be enough to stop seatposts from sliding down