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@Greenbank
I think Justin and Steve were using 67" and 69" respectively in 2012.
Remember you want to be setting your gear as the biggest gear you can use to get up the climbs you know you've not already assigned to walking (the sections/climbs of 25% and above). That sounds like 67" to me. That gear lets me get up most things up to ~18% (there are a few sections that steep or steeper on the Elenith that I had to walk). Any lower and I'd be concerned about the descents.
Getting a place on PBP shouldn't be a struggle though, it's never really filled up (for UK riders at least) and they're increasing the size of the event slowly. It's a step beyond the "London2Paris in 24 hours" type ride that have really taken off in the last few years. Many rides sell out because it's far easier to enter them than the ride them, at least with PBP you must have done most of the qualifying rides before you can pre-register.
(For PBP in 2011 I used 67" mainly because it was what was on my bike for the qualifiers. Doing it again I'd definitely go for 71" or even 74". There are no really steep climbs on PBP but quite a few long draggy descents that I didn't get enough rest on due to having to spin 67" all the time.)