A MOTHER-of-one has opened a women's cycling gear showroom, after not being able to find the right kit.

VeloVixen, in Wheatley, is the brainchild of Liz Bingham and her husband Phil, from Oxford.

The couple, who live in Headington with two-year-old daughter Zoe, were already running a website, called velovixen.com, but said that a shop was the next logical step in the development of the firm.

The 400 sq ft unit at Wheatley Business Centre, off Old London Road, stocks bicycles, specialist cycling clothing and helmets.

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Shortly after meeting four years ago, the couple spent almost a year cycling 10,000km through North and South America, despite Mrs Bingham not having ridden a bike since her university days.

While preparing for the trip, the 41-year-old former actress struggled to find suitable clothing that fitted and looked stylish.

She said: “Time and again in bike shops, it felt like I wasn’t being taken seriously as a female cyclist.”

This inspired the couple to set up the VeloVixen website when they returned in July 2011.

Since then it has been nominated for Best Women’s Cycling online retailer in the Total Women’s Cycling Awards.

Former financier Mr Bingham, 40, said: “We set off on the Americas trip not knowing each other very well. By the end of it, we had become engaged to be married.

“We got married three months after we got back to the UK.”

The couple, who are expecting their second child next month, work with communications manager Kirsty Hofat and semi-professional cyclist Rose Osborne, who works part-time in the shop.

Mr Bingham added: “Our customers are all ages and all shapes and sizes.

“We’re not just for urban or commuting cyclists, we also have a good range of quite technical kit and accessories.”

He added: “We stock brands that are not as well known and things that are just a little bit different from anything else out there.”

For more information, see velovixen.com

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