Right I'm rubbish at this kind of thing, I've noticed that when I back pedal my cranks that the cassette on my rear wheel sticks and the chain goes slack… I'm thinking some kind of basic maintenance that I never bother doing is required and its probably pretty simple. Can anyone help?

The hub / hubs are hope bulb and xc.

Thanks! Sorry if this has been done a million times before…

Don't back pedal?

TBH if you're crap at DIY a Hope rear hub probably isn't the best place to start

EDIT: just to clarify – the hubs are quite simple really but can often require quite a lot of brute force & hammers to service

Yeah I don't when riding, I'm just worried that I'm forgoing a bit of maintenance that I might be able to do myself if I knew what it was. I'm not a mechanical numpty, just don't have the knowledge here.

Ah brute for and hammers! A recipe for disater with me… Exactly how much brute force is too much? Oh that much…

It's easiest if you remove the cassette.
Pill the drive side end cap off the axle and you should by gentle wriggling be able to remove the freehub body. Once it's moved by about 5mm locate the 3 pawls and cover them with 3 fingers. Pull it the rest of the way off, holding the pawls down. there's a spacer behind the freehub. remove that as well (and remember to put it back when you re-assemble!)
Clean everything with a cloth and some gt85 or disc cleaner. Don't blast the bearings with this! Check the pawls still have a good edge and aren't broken or cracked.
Light grease like finish line on everything. Too heavier a grease and the pawls will stick down It's a bit of a fiddle getting the pawl springs and pawls back in place. a dab of grease behind helps.
Re-assemble in reverse order.
Ride.
Easy!

Look here if you feel OK with it

http://www.mountainbikerides.co.uk/fettling/hope_hub.htm

Ace thanks uplink.

Oh yeah.. Don't forget to check the ring (fnar!) inside the hub still has all it's teeth. And don't fill the thing with grease.. A light coating will do.

Hmm thanks all – looks doable but then again…

It's blindingly easy (with reasonable dexterity!) until you loose the pawl springs. Best done in a bright clean area.. far away from the fridge!

Nah pack it full of thick ol' grease….the hub is silent for weeks that way :o)

Also worth just checking your mech hanger isn't bent and that the jockey wheels on your mech are both still spinning freely…..both will cause your symptoms. Both mor likely than a sticky hope freehub, It could be the freehub but those freehubs are bombproof most of the time.

Just put a rag/towel over the freehub before you remove it, stops the pawls shooting off.

If its the first time your endcap has been rmoved, it might take some yanking with screwdrivers.

If you cassette has bitten into the freehub body, that might resist removal too. Hammer and mol grips come in handy, then file the burrs in the freehub down. Try not to get the swarf in the hub body.

All good tips, but it's also quite possible that the bearings in the freehub body have stiffened up and will need replacing(this is where the big hammers really come in).

I'll bet your outer freehub bearing is shot

last week i replaced the bearings in my xc hub and fresh grease in pawls and having the hope bearing tools makes it so simple but you still need a big hammer

If you are going to replace the bearings heat the hub – it makes it so much easier. Tie a rag around it and pour boiling water over it

TJ brill idea will try that next time