Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
Efficiency: If I were going to ride PBP on a derailleur bike, I'd put on a new set of ceramic jockey wheels for my last few weeks before France. ...
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One study of DNF I saw said that one of the best predictors of success was having one pannier. ....
I bought some cheap ball bearing jockey wheels and put them on my rando bike and light touring bike last year. I doubt that they help much, but the stock pulley wheels on my Shimano derailleur had no bearings, just grease. And I got a little tired of taking them out and re-greasing them about once a year. I doubt that ceramic would be that much better than normal ball bearing ones, but if you are close to a time cut off then I suspect that everything becomes important.
I noted above that the longest brevets I ride are 200k and at age 67 I have no interest in even thinking about PBP. But I carry a 11 liter Carradice saddle bag (Pendle) on brevets, it is nice to have a place for rain gear, extra water, some food. That is in addition to my handlebar bag. The saddle bag is almost never full, but the extra volume does not hurt anything empty.