Yes, I had the sam frame but with disc brakes. Didn't like them, so much more Vbrake man
Not because the weight but simplicity and just about right amount of braking power for me. Discs are better, stronger but loose the purpose on bike that is used only for road.
as for housing, yes it's long but for now is not giving me any problems, shifting and braking is perfect and i love white details to be seen. I'm planing on changing the brakes for some xt/xtr's and then I will cut off "spinnaker"
thanks for comments, it's a pleasure to see that other people like the bike as much as I do.