FWIW, the French cyclotouring bikes -- and hell, most racing bikes up until the 60s or so -- were sized by the "fistful of seatpost" method. IOW, frames used to be a lot bigger. I guess the CPSC decided that top tubes were a leading cause of smashed nads, so now we're all riding around on the smallest possible frames. Which is fine, but the point I'm trying to make is that the world got away with riding frames 3-5c m larger than is currently in vogue, and got away with it for a long time.

I'm not 50+ yet, but I am old enough that riding around with me arse in the air and me nose in the spokes no longer makes as much sense as it used to. My frames are getting bigger all the time: I raced a 58 and am now up to a 61 -- and maybe a 62 in my future. If I straddle the top tube with both feet flat on the ground, I'm in uncomfortable territory -- but why I would ever need to do that escapes me. And I'm able to get the bars up to a reasonable level without having to resort to Sears Tower sized stems.

HTH!

<Edit> Threadless stems suck out loud, unless you're using a carbon fork. And thanks for letting me share!