watch's

If the watch has a straight spring pin style retention pin, then other bands will work.  If it has funky cut outs, it might not. 

I usually throw away the OEM bands right away and put on a velcro "The Band".  It a lot more comfortable to me.  The downside is its not sweat repellent, so I need to take it off and wash it. 

Walmart here had some 30-lap Ironman watches on clearance.  Final price $9.  I could hardly replace a watchband for that price.  I bought three, one for me, and one for each of my twins. 

I can't imagine Timex requires 2 months to deliver product.  (Now it might take that long for the running store to get it, but you've got access to the internet.) 

You can do much better than the $90 MRSP. I just bought one for around $60 new (ebay)

I'm on my third Timex Ironman HRM - only because I'm so hard on them. I wear one as my regular watch and never take it off, so I've beat up two pretty badly over the past 4 years and just got my third one recently.

Pros: waterproof, two minute battery change (lasts about a year), chest strap registers on the Polar treadmills at my gym, relatively inexpensive, can wear as an everyday watch. Some models (Bodylink) you can get optional GPS/speed/distance pods. 

Cons: like your watch, I had a hard time replacing a broken wrist strap. The models of HRM I used had an integrated band that moulded into the watch casing, so changing it was out of the question. Otherwise, I really like them.

I wish they would come out with an OVA model like some of their watches.