I have a couple of old bikes ( non bmx) that have the hubs with the gears inside. What kind of oil should I use for them? Any ideas?

gun oil works well, also phil wood tenacious oil. something that is fairly thick, so it doesn't run out right away.
dave

They use to use 3 in 1 oil.. AT least the old bike shop from bitd did. Red and White can with the red tip.

You could also look into some of the "marine boat" lubs.. It's thick and for the most part repels water.

Dont go with something too thick, or it may gum up the works when things get chilly. I've used Tri Flow in them before.

Thanks for the suggestion guys. Off to find some oil I go.

I was just in the LBS, the old guy knows best right? He says 3 in 1 works best. He went on and on for 10 minutes about the Sturmy-Archer hub company, their history, who took it over years ago bla bla bla...cool guy.

If yours just tuning up an old hub, add 1tb. If you've serviced and degreased it add 2tb.

If you have a gummed up hub but your afraid to tear it down to service, shoot it with wd-40, spin for 2 minutes. Wait an hour, repeat. Continue to spin every hour until everything feels smooth then drain the wd-40 overnight. Add 2tb 3 in 1 the next day.

We talked about the Phil tenatious oil and others, he said they're all to thick and tend to gum-up with internal hubs.

I used the 3 in one oil. I put some in and then spin the wheel to get it moving around. I operated the shifter back and forth, while pedaling for a few minutes. Everything started to feel smoother after a minute or so. The hubs didn't feel bad before, but they sounded a little dry. Everything seems good now.
If it would warm up a little, I can test ride them. I can only go so far in my basement.