Jasong:

Regarding pull on the handlebars - the DT components (folding stem assembly) were removed and replaced with a straight aluminum "steerer" tube. The stem bolts onto this tube. There is a bit of stress on these pieces because of the necessary counterpull on the handlebars. The harder you mash on the pedals, the more the counterpull. Presumably, the engineering of the kit takes this into account.

Pulling on the bars is necessary because you are pedalling directly against the front wheel. Even though the pedalling movement is mostly in a circle parallel to the wheels, there is a bit of torque due to the offset of the pedals. It's not huge, but it's enough to impact the steering. The more precise your pedalling, the less the impact. Also, as I said earlier, some people have managed to ride hands free, so they've obviously sorted out the foot steer impact.

It takes a little effort to ride fwd. For me, it took about 15 minutes to get going in a straight line. Then a few miles before I was confident enough to ride in the streets.