Originally posted by The Terminator
I have to jump in on this. I have done a great deal of Tig welding. I had to go to school to learn to do it for a year. I have never welded on anything at all related to aerospace or autosports. Tig is much more common than you might think. It is in fact by far the easiest method of welding to learn. I have had to learn all three, mig, tig, and arc welding. One of my training requirements was two years of welding school. There are machines that can be programmed to mig weld or arc weld. I cannot concieve of a machine that could be programmed to tig weld. There is too much human judgement required. When I say machine, I am talking about robots, and I have seen plenty of them in car plants and other places that have automated welding processes. I don't believe a machine will be tig welding in the near future. I especially don't think a machine will be tig welding any types of bicycle frames in the future. If one ever does, I would certainly like to see it done. Best -

More control in automated TIG welding applications
A new rotational TIG Filler system from Panasonic provides filler wire rotational axis control whereby the filler tube can rotate independently of welding torch and robot arm movement
A new rotational TIG Filler system from Panasonic is designed to deliver the optimum level of control in automated TIG welding applications, leading to improved productivity and high levels of repeatable quality when welding mild, stainless and special alloy steels and aluminium.
Fully compatible with Panasonic's range of welding robots, the new seven-axis TIG Filler system provides filler wire rotational axis control whereby the filler tube can rotate independently of welding torch and robot arm movement.
This ensures accurate positioning of the filler wire tube during robot movements and allows complex welds to be achieved without breaking the weld line path.
The TIG Filler system is supplied with a pulse wire feed system that synchronises the wire feed with the pulse effect of the weld set.
Alternatively the pulse frequency of the wire feed can be varied using a time base control that allows pulse feed even when operating in standard welding modes.
Featuring digital interfaces to both the robot and Panasonic's TWX300 AC/DC TIG welding power source, the new TIG Filler system is suitable for both AC and DC welding applications.
The TWX300 welding source offers maximum flexibility by offering AC, DC, Pulse and Mixed AC operating modes to ensure high-reliability welding of components and sub-assemblies across the widest possible range of designs.
The new system will suit a variety of production applications across industries ranging from bicycles and furniture to automotive, medical, catering and domestic appliances.

I'll venture the opinion that a high-quality modern steel frame with thin-walled tubing can offer you a combination of a resilient "steel" ride, along with lower frame weight and less flex, compared to a "traditional" frame using the conventional tubing diameters. Whether that translates into a bigger smile on your face or not, that is the question...