Hi, and welcome to TT!

I'm not a fan of the Studio 44 for the exact reason you described. I own two, and have cleaned both really well, and yet they exhibit the same stiff action, which incidentally I've found is common with other Olivetti models, albeit standard models such as the Lexikon 80 and Diaspron 82. I've also used a few other Studio 44 machines to compare against the ones I own and they also shared the same heavy action. Based on all that experience I would have said that it's just the design of the machine, but every so often I have come across someone singing its praises, which means either there were better performers over the course of the Studio 44's production history that I haven't encountered, or those people - for whatever reason - prefer a heavy/stiff type action. 

I haven't had the time yet, but I still intend on revisiting all of my Olivetti machines that have this characteristic type action to see if anything can be done to improve it, because as they are I find my wrists becoming sore after a few pages of typing. 

The only reason I own Olivetti typewriters at all is because of their achievements in industrial design. Without question they represent some of the most visually intriguing typewriters made, but in terms of performance it becomes a case of the cover selling the book. The only Olivetti that I own that types really well is the Linea 98, and that's because it was manufactured in an Underwood factory (I haven't confirmed it yet, but my guess is that it's an Underwood machine wrapped in an Olivetti case).