browngw 

Thanks for pointing that out @bikemig . It is a nice rack for sure but it mounts at the front dropout instead of midway up the fork. I am going to find some material and try building a smaller rack to fit the eyelets and support a large handlebar bag. For now I am making do with the saddle bag.

devinfan

browngw 

Thanks for the complement! I know what you mean about the cloth tape and I had some on hand, but I really prefer the cork type for a bike I like to ride longer distances. I just finished doing a '72 Holdsworth with cloth tape and it looks sharp and vintage but alas I am keeping the Dilecta and selling the Holdsworth. Sometimes you just know when a bike feels "right".

browngw 

Newer photos of the old Dilecta. Now five years in my ownership. I'm also five years older and have gone to an aged Brooks B17. Really comfortable on this bike. Now using Brooks bar tape tape on the slightly wider Pivot bars. The Sun Race freewheel was replaced with a Regina with a 31T low gear that a friend built up for me.

Duke7777

Great looking Dilecta! It looks like a bike that is well-liked by its owner. A late-40s to 1950s Dilecta has been on my search list for several years. So far no luck - most are too small, and I've been outbid a couple of times. The top-level Dilectas from their heyday are something special IMO.

browngw 

A few changes this winter to the Dilecta Le Blanc. The more modern Zefal mudguards were replaced with some period NOS Bluemels and the Suntour RD was changed to a GT Luxe all-alloy model, also NOS. Some paint touch-up and a new seatpost bolt and a few other minor changes so it's ready to roll in the spring.

oneclick 

For stubborn chainring fasteners I've found a combination of a tool you can easily make and a particular technique work well:

The tool is any cheap bit of table flatware - it has to have a section just the right thickness to fit the slots of the nut.
I usually take a knife, but have used a spoon and ground the handle end a little thinner.
You put a 90 degree bend in the end and shape it to fit the slots - saw/file/dremel/etc.
Eventually the bent bits will break (just as the Campag tool does) so you cut the end off and bend/shape again.
Such a tool is needed for the technique below, as the handle is longer.

The technique also needs a vice and a hex-key; mount the key pointing up in the vice.
Place the crank and ring(s) upside-down on the end of the key.
Place your home-made tool in the slots of the nut.
Now - here's the important part:
a) take up the slack between the slots of the nut and the tangs of your tool - DON'T try to turn the nut, just get the tangs hard up against the sides of the slots.
b) place the handle against the rings and clamp it there with your hand - make sure you are holding the tangs fully deep in their slots.
c) with your hand clamping the end of the home-made tool against the chainnrings so the tang sides STAY hard against the slot faces, turn AS ONE UNIT BOTH the crankset and the tool (the correct way) to loosen the nut.

This works because you are using the friction between the walls of the nut and the bits it goes through to help turn it against the screw.