On single chain drives, I noticed that the side to side motion from the gaps in sprocket and chain meshing is much more than in double chain drives. Makes it feel a bit weaker in quality, but I've never had either one break - though I am not a heavy hitter. Both have features that minimize any force differences. If you want to lessen the weight you need to carry, singles are a bit lighter. If you keep drums in one location, and you don't ever want to have a chain jump off the sprocket, double is the way to go. If you don't mind the chain jumping off once or twice a year, and cost and weight matter, single is the way to go.

Interesting. I used the original Tama Camco pedals for years and after that bought a first gen Delta 5000 double pedal with the ball bearings for the hinges mounted on little blocks next to the hinges. I used that for many years then switched to the Vector G1 which is single chain, but it doesn't use a sprocket. It uses a felt lined cam so that one doesn't have the possibility to pop off. I started using the DW again with my Roland e kit about 5 years ago which is what I play most of the time due to the quietness and not gigging at the moment.

In all of those years, I have never felt like the pedal wasn't rock solid and have never had a chain pop off the sprocket. None of these pedals have any slack in the hinge, so no side to side movement of the board, which wasn't always the case, but I think even the cheap pedals these days have pretty tight hinges.

To me, the advent of the double row chain seemed like it was just mareketing fluff. If one row is great, two has to be better. Just like the advent of bigger and heavier, double braced stands. Remember when Slingerland briefly offered triple braced stands? Glad that didn't take off. The old stuff is stable if you aren't a basher, although improvement was needed, and modern single braced stands more than adequate. Of course now lightweight stands are very popular because the double braced stuff is just so heavy. Or the ever increasing size of tom mount L arms. 9.5 worked for years, but then 10.5 was better. That wasn't good enough so 12.5mm became all the rage. Remember when thin shells were the norm, then they weren't good enough so shells became thicker and thicker, and was an actual selling point? Then of course we reverted back to thin shells. Don't forget thicker and thicker triple flange hoops. 1.6mm was the standard for decades. Then 2.6mm because thicker is always better. Now there are some 3mm thick hoops. A lot of people say that the 1.6mm hoops sound better and swap thick ones for the thinner ones. Last but not least, cymbal thread size. 1/4"/6mm was the standard for decades and gave the cymbal more room to move when hit, but that wasn't good enough so now 8mm is the standard, even though cymbals can't move as much.

See where I'm going with this?

If you get a quality pedal with good, tight hinges, a single chain should be fine. A single chain will offer less friction than a double chain and will be a bit lighter. Will you feel a difference? I don't know, but I don't really see the benefit of a double row chain. Pretty much all new pedals other than the DW 2000 are double chain, so if you are looking at new pedals, the decision has already been made for you. If you are looking at used, you have more choices.

There are a lot of single chain bass drum pedals available. They do sway side-to-side more than the double chain drives do. After thousands of motions, my DWs have jumped the sprocket, but it is a rare event.