Last summer I did something similar. I've been riding last 20 years a mid 90s full suspension MTB where the thing which looked like shock absorber in the middle of frame was actually just spring which you could only make tighter or looser and that thing weighed 44 pounds. After I finally weighted it I decided to get road or gravel bike, scrolled through local classifieds, quickly found some 5 years old Ridley X-Bow and pulled the trigger, now I am riding 25 pound gravel bike
Safe rides to you!