Check out Kerry Litka's site, if you haven't already. http://www.kerrylitka.com/novarastory.html
I considered getting one of these, but decided to reconstruct my hardtail into a 'cross bike. http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ighlight=frank
If you can swap out some of the stock components, wheels, seat, you can probably knock some weight off of it.
I am 5'1" also, with very short legs, so I know the challenge of finding a bike to fit!
Have fun!!