The Desperate Bicycles were an English new wave group who released a series of independent recordings in the late 1970s and inspired many other bands to do likewise. The Desperate Bicycles pioneered the do-it-yourself ethic of punk, adopting a proselytising role exemplified by their ardent exhortation: "it was easy, it was cheap - go and do it!". The group have been described as "DIY's most fervent evangelists".