I have a couple of old steel bikes that have problems with ghost shifting. One is a 93 Viner Nemo with late 80's Athena friction shifters and an Athena RD. The other is a more noodley 73 Holdsworth with Suntour Sprint shifters and a Nouvo Record RD. Both ghost shift when I stand on the cranks going up hills. Other than really tightening up the shifter screws, which I don't like the feel of, are there other ways of dealing with the problem? Thanks.

Sounds like you're suffering shifting due to frame flex. As you've noticed, increasing the pressure of the shifters' friction plate will solve the problem. Often this is a delicate operation.

Retrofriction/ratchet shifters and indexed shifters are both less susceptible to this problem.

Are you sure it isn't chain skip? Does the chain actually shift into another cog?

I had the same problem on an old Fuji Touring series IV, it was like having an automatic transmission. I replaced/upgraded the rear derailleur on the recomendation of my LBS it went away.

It does shift onto the next smaller cog. It is due to frame flex. I did grease the shifter components when installing them. Perhaps I should clean all the lubricant off and readjust them. I'd like to avoid a heavy throw on the shifters.

Usually this happens from friction where the derailleur cable is routed around the bottom bracket. When the frame is flexing the cable moves with it. If you reduce the friction in the area, the cable will float and not move with the frame.

Usually a few squirts of chain lube onto the cable where it is routed around the bottom bracket fixes this problem. If that does not work try replacing the cable with a new high quality teflon coated one (don't use cheap ones).

On one bike I had with the friction problem on the BB, lube kept wearing off so I went with a nylon or delrin (plastic anyway) cable guide from a moountain bike, problem went away for good.

Ken.