Originally Posted by JulesCW

/snark Want it to be lightweight? Turn it into a fixie -- no brakes at all, plus no derailleurs or freewheel -- super lightweight! Cut off the derailleur tab and any other braze-ons to shave off more ounces! Then get out the drill and go to town old-school on the chainrings and other bits! / snark

Is your goal to get a photo of the bike on a scale for bragging rights or to try to make the ride more lively or "better?"

FWIW, retaining cheap tires while spending $$ on brake cable housing in an effort to save 100 grams or so is, IMHO, misguided. Rene Herse or Soma Supple Vitesse or the like tires will not only likely be a lot lighter than the cheap tires you don't want to consider replacing (almost certainly more than you'd save in weight by buying boutique brake housing -- and that's rotating weight), but they'll also likely make a large difference in the feel and performance of the bike, which cable housing won't (ok, light housing "might" make braking less effective, but that's presumably not a goal).