A shock absorber has a cylinder tube coaxially arranged with a strut tube for defining therebetween an annular reservoir chamber and an upper reservoir chamber which is separated from the annular reservoir chamber. A first fluid path is defined for permitting fluid flow from a lower fluid chamber in the cylinder tube to an upper fluid chamber and the annular reservoir chamber in response to bounding stroke of vibration. A second fluid path is also defined for permitting fluid flow from the lower fluid chamber and the annular reservoir chamber to the upper fluid chamber and the upper reservoir chamber, in response to rebounding stroke of vibration. A first flow restriction means is disposed in the first path for generating damping force in response to bounding stroke of vibration, which damping force is variable depending upon the magnitude of the bounding stroke in essentially linear variation characteristics. A second flow restriction means is also disposed in the second path for generating damping force in response to bounding stroke of vibration, which damping force is variable depending upon the magnitude of the bounding stroke in essentially linear variation characteristics.