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@Greenbank
It's getting more popular amongst Audaxers. I think there were 7 fixeds on LEL (out of ~500 riders). They'll be a couple of hundred on PBP (out of ~5000 riders). It's not much harder on long distance rides than having gears.
Look back in this thread for links to posts about what to carry on long distance rides.
Not sure that LEL is harder than PBP. PBP is 200km shorter but hilliler / consistently undulating (rather than the pan flat Southern section of LEL), with tougher time limits (40 hours to the 614km to Brest, then 50 hours to get back).
18 months is enough time to get fit for PBP. I went travelling around South America for Nov/Dec 2008 and didn't touch a bike at all in that time. I came back and failed to complete a DIY 100 down to the South Coast (pretty much the same as London to Brighton) as I'd lost all of my cycling fitness. From there I built up to finishing LEL in July using my commute (flat 12km each way in London), blatting round Richmond Park and the Surrey Hills, and other Audaxes.
Plan on doing an SR this year, ideally with some hilly rides (Brevet Cymru 400, Bryan Chapman 600 for example.)