//I changed my mind about Peloton 

I changed my mind about Peloton 

A Peloton stationary bike sits on display at one of the fitness company’s studios on December 4, 2019, in New York City. | Scott Heins/Getty Images

I used to make fun of the expensive at-home exercise bike. Then I didn’t leave my apartment for five months.

Eight months ago, Peloton, the at-home digital exercise company, released a much-maligned holiday commercial. In the ad, a man gets his beautiful wife (known only as “Grace from Boston”) a Peloton bike for Christmas. She uses it every day, recording each ride, and then splices the footage together into a thank-you video for her husband, which they watch together.

The act of getting an exercise bike for someone who maybe didn’t ask for an exercise bike, combined with the hostage video ambiance of the woman’s early struggle to learn to love an obligation-creating present, made it seem like