Anyone know how to soften up a shock like this?

Cheap shocks like this were never made to be adjusted, or touched at all really. They are meant to barely function until they break and then someone either throws away the bike or buys a new shock.

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Gold_Area5109@reddit

So quality rear shocks have two ways to be adjusted.

A "good" rear shock with dampener would cost 30%+ of that $1000.

Preload and dampening.

Preload would be adjusted by a large "nut" where the red disk is above the spring and the dampener would be adjusted by a valve in or near the red oil reservoir.

Preload affects how easy it for the shock to move and dampening adjusts how fast that movement can be to limit bouncyness.

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Jaterkin@reddit

I'd feel really ripped off too if I bought a bike like this for $1000 and found out other people were getting the exact same bike for $699 lol

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BassesNBikes@reddit

Don't feel bad. You all got ripped off.

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Jaterkin@reddit

I didn't get ripped off, I don't buy POS e-bikes lol

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BassesNBikes@reddit

Ah. Apologies. Missed the subjunctive there.

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No_Image_4099@reddit

I had a chance to take appart a "British made modern foldable commuter" which was over £2000 on Amazon, find out majority of it's parts were cheapest things from Aliexpress.

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Jaterkin@reddit

They can put whatever price they want on a e-bike, doesn't mean it wasn't made with the cheapest possible parts. Especially e-moto style bikes like this.

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LEMental@reddit

Yeah, unfortunately, shocks that look like this one on inexpensive eBikes are made to resemble real adjustable shocks like this one:

https://hallomotor.com/products/dnm-burner-rcp-2s-downhill-rear-shock-absor-air-suspension-190-240mm-mountain-bike-electric-bicycle

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BassesNBikes@reddit

My best guess is that what you have there isn't really a 'shock'. It's just a spring for bouncy bouncy. That 'reservoir' is bolted on for looks, I bet.

How Bike Suspension Works

A suspension system is simply a combination of a spring and a damper. The spring (whether it’s a steel coil or compressed air in a chamber) absorbs the impact by compressing when you hit a bump. The damper (usually using oil and valves) controls the speed of that compression and rebound, preventing the bike from just bouncing. This duo allows the wheels to move up and down with the terrain while the rest of the bike (and you, the rider) stay comparatively steady.