I don’t know what the pseudo-lugs are all about, but my praise was more about the geometry, braze-ons for racks or fenders, and brake bosses for cantis. I’ve been known to try and stretch the boundaries on what a bike was really designed for. The Volpe is one of a rather small group of frames that allow for a wide range of builds. Off the top of my head I can only think of a few other frames that are as universal, Masi makes one that I forget what it is called, Soma and Surly make cross frames that would work, I think the ‘King of Mercia’ by Mercian is one, the Miyata 610 and the Miyatas later variants of a sport/tourer among others.

I have the opposite problem as you; I’m 6’ but am mostly legs so I’ve ended up with bikes that are supposed to be too big for me.