Originally Posted by Duragrouch

FSIR: Thanks, I'll look.

Stems: There is most definitely rigid stems available, and I would even go so far as to say, most folders have them. Bike Friday has stayed with their skinny long steel stems and long steel seatposts. The seatpost, I think they actually want the aft flex as a semi-suspension, and it allows custom (standard size) top ends, like for suspension. Also, the skinnier frame seat tube gives a lot more room for the front derailleur to go way inward for a triple crank.

The stem, I think it relates to their folding strategy, as the stem comes out for folding. Otherwise, there's tons of more-rigid aftermarket stems available that they could use, copied from Dahon or Brompton designs after patents expired, I would imagine, that are very nice looking forged or swaged tapers, thick at the base, quite optimum structurally. BF is famous for customer accommodation, I'm sure if a customer desired a modern folding stem, they would provide a fork with a bit longer steering tube, sans external threading and headset nut, with internal threads, to mate with a modern stem and preload bolt.