Bike porn

the tiny rear triangle wouldnt make much a difference
when the front triangle is so messed up
and there is a massive gap and no seat tube to reinforce the triangle

or like this even, but the sloping top tube is an epic fail

Reading gogosama's post. A standard low-pro frame would be stiffer.

Looking at Dylans pic. The bike now has two 50ish cm lenghs of steel tubing less, so some weight saved there.

I'm going to guess that a standard frame containing fewer tubes and fewer wields, is cheaper.

So Mr Bontrager was wrong you can have stiffer, lighter, and cheaper. Its just a case of what you out start with.