It's a steel frame? Really? It must be heavy. The bike this frame is copied from, the Dahon MU, has an aluminum frame that's not particularly light. Copied in steel it would weigh ~3x as much.

Most folding pedals are lower quality. Suggest removable pedals: MKS Ezy, Wellgo QRD, etc.

Yes, a few folks use drop bars on their folding bike. No, they typically don't fold well.