>>1512388>It's a steel frame. This does not spark joy.Huh, shame. If it's worth anything, you shouldn't need to get TOO hung up on weight, most bikes you see on a trail weigh around 13 (mid-tier hardtail, old rigid) to 15 (entry level hardtail or full-sus) kg; and at entry level a basic chunky aluminum frame and a similar tier, reasonable (eg. normal skinny tubes) steel one weigh about the same.
Also, anecdotally, last winter I rebuilt my dad's bike because he wanted to go on rides with me, his bike was an absolute pig: chunky steel frame like yours but also huge cruiser fork, steel wheels, heavy as fuck tires, one-piece crank with triple chainring, probably 18-20kg altogether and he wouldn't let me talk him into just getting another one. So I looked around and found a crmo (I think, it's light-ish has good damping) fork for almost nothing and some cheap alloy wheels and some more reasonable hybrid tires and the weight got to about 14-15kg even if the bars and seatpost are still steel and he has a cruiser saddle. Would probably been a kg or more lighter with alloy bars, 1x and 1.5" slicks but he refused on those. Spent like $60-70 on that, didn't really keep the tally but a lot was old stashed parts and cheap finds so YMMV.
Either way, besides that blogpost, I think you're looking for something like pic related, those kinds of bikes are similar in concept to old mountain bikes but you see them marketed now as "adventure" or "flat bar gravel" bikes, sometimes even just as commuter/hybrid bikes. The difference would be that they typically come specced with slicks and taller gearing, which can be sorted with a smaller chainring or larger cassette and knobbier cyclocross or gravel-type tires so maybe discuss that at the LBS, some have a discount on customization if you buy the bike from them and if you talk about where and how you ride they can help you choose the right bike and parts (just don't let them upsell you too much lol).
