SBRStL Mad Science Series - vol. 2

 

Everyone who has owned a heart rate monitor has eventually found themselves with a sagging chest strap. This nuisance occurs when the elastic strap holding the transmitter in place simply wears out due to age and/or use. At that point, the options are few. Assuming you are using a Polar, the Microsoft of heart rate monitors, one can order a replacement strap for $5.99 plus shipping with an online minimum order of $15, or a whole new system for $59.99 and up, plus shipping. Other makes and models may vary, but for this project no data was retrieved from other manufacturers

Being the multisport ombudsman, penny-pinching, do-it-yourselfer that I am, it occurred to me that a simple, incredibly cheap, lasting, quick-fix can be performed with a strip of 1" braided elastic from a fabric store. With one snip here and and few stitches there, this aggravation could be returned to the status of perfectly functioning training tool. Keep in mind I am equipped with only bachelor-level, survival-sewing skills and that I have been known to run with scissors, but I surmised that the repair could be completed with just fifteen minutes labor, tops.

As with most of my projects, do-it-yourself ideas, and hair-brained schemes, the concept is rarely as straightforward in practical application as it appears on paper. Unforeseen potholes seem to appear out of nowhere to pretzel my efforts. This was proven to be more than just a paranoid theory when I attempted to procure the elastic. I wheeled into the fabric store's parking lot with precisely imperfect timing to witness the lights being turned off. Undeterred, I headed for Linen and Things and upon arriving discovered that they only sold linen and things, not elastic banding. Stop three was Target, but I struck no bulls eye there. I gathered my wits and reasoned. Who has everything? Walmart (ugh), was stop four.

There, I found all colors and sizes of elastic, except of course that which matched the original equipment black. So, in my eagerness to complete the project, I contemplated purchasing white. I envisioned myself shirtless, wearing this thing with people behind me wondering it was a bra strap. Well, worse things could happen and it would be a novelty of sorts. Perhaps this fashion statement would result in a trend. So I went for it, all 99 cents plus tax.

Back at the laboratory, er.. kitchen table, I laid out the offending strap and cut off an equal strip of the new elastic. I simply cut away the old strap and simultaneously threaded the new band through the adjusting buckles. One alternative worth considering was to cut a custom-sized, nonadjustable length since I'd be the only one wearing it anyway. I chose to stay with option one, trying to replicate as closely as possible, color aside, the way in which it was originally designed. The whole sizing, cutting, and threading process took mere minutes.

 

The tantalizing final step was to securely sew the ends closed and then enjoy a heart rate controlled run without constantly tugging at my chest strap. I found a needle and thread laying conveniently atop my daughters desk, left over from what was undoubtedly a recent repair job of her own. Lacking a sewing machine and the requisite expertise to use it had one been available, I manually plied an eight inch length of thread back and forth through the band and across its width until I deemed it would hold tight. In little more than ten minutes, the deed was done. With far from an artisan-like finish but now completely functional, I had successfully replaced the chest strap.

 

Of course no adventure is complete without a final irony and indeed I had to laugh when I found mine. On my way towards the door to get my run in, I thought I'd set a good example and return the needle and thread back to where it should have been, in my daughter's sewing basket. Upon opening the lid, big as life, right there on top was an unopened package of 1" black, braided elastic. It figures.