You are an example of fitting to your torso rather than your legs, or possibly splitting the difference. Many of us are of the age when the dealer simply put us on the largest bike we could straddle comfortably, and sent us out the door.

I had a different experience in 1970. The dealer just eyeballed me and said, "You look like a 23 and a half (inches--that's the way British and French frames were sized in the US those days), and that's what I got. Later I learned I could easily straddle 25 and a half, but I never went there. I spent a couple years bemoaning the possibility my bike was too small, and even rode a 24" for a couple seasons. But when I finally landed on my dream steel vintage bike, it was 60 cm with a 57 cm top tube. That dealer was right.