Originally Posted by
Papa Tom
It stabilizes the bike so much better, especially when it's loaded - plus, it automatically raises either wheel up in the air when parked, which will make repairing a flat on the road much faster and easier.
I use a 25 yr. old (and still reliable) Pletscher double kickstand on my commuter that almost always has one or both rear trunk panniers loaded. I couldn't live without a double on a bagged commuter, just for the balance while loading/unloading the paniers. A special notable feature on my double, though I'm not sure if it's true of all doubles, but it may be, is the ability to fully pedal the drivetrain forwards while on the kickstand, and the rear wheel raised, so you can easily pedal, change gears, and check any derailleur or indexing adjustments you made. It's like having a mini built-in work stand with you at all times. What's also nice is that you can pick up the front tire and roll the bike backwards into a "parking space" while the kickstand is fully open, without fear of the crank arm hitting/binding on the kickstand, like occurs with a typical single mounted behind the bottom bracket. My $0.02