Take your bike to a competent shop. After they fix it, ride it around the parking lot and see if it fixed, if not bring it back in. There is nothing wrong with the stiffness of your FD. I don't even know how that would even apply except that stiffness and flex are terms way overused and over marketed in the industry. It sounds like a stop screw problem and trim, but w/out looking at it I can't tell you for sure.

"Brifter"?