Cannondale Crankset Replacement Question
I am very new to attempting my own bike maintenance so bear with me. I have a bike stand and a handful of Park Tools and am trying to learn. I am willing to invest a bit.
I have a Cannondale CAAD8 aluminum frame road bike that I believe is 2010 (gifted to me new around that time). I am unsure of the exact model. I ride causally about twice a week, 20-25 miles/ride on some fairly hilly/mountainous roads (1800-2400 elevation gain per ride). I have done very little maintenance on this bike and it has served me well in the past 16ish years.
Lately, I have noticed that my chain has been skipping a ton when I am in my higher gears going downhill or on flat ground. My bike is 2 front gears and 8 on the back. It feels as though it is coming from the high gear on chainring (does not happen while climbing). I have the chain checker tool, and my chain seems fine. This is probably accurate, as I know I have changed the chain. I have never done anything to the chainring, so I suspect this is where the problem is coming from. The teeth seem to be worn and honestly, I don't clean the bike nearly as often as I should.
I was thinking about replacing the larger 50T chainring. However, I started researching why my low back always hurts when I ride and some sites say it could be due in part to crank length being too long. The crank length on my bike currently (what came with the bike) is FSA 175mm. I am a 5'10 female. So, I was thinking maybe I should just install new crankset with 170 mm length. I am fine with spending a little money on something that will last but don't need top of the line.
My questions are
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Do you think I should install new crankset or just 50T chainring? Do you think decreasing crank length is advisable?
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Which crankset would you recommend? I was looking at this one:
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Do I need to buy a new bottom bracket?
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What tools will I need?
Thank you for any and all advice!
Posted Jun 8, 2026, 4:44 PM UTC