Driving around LA for a few years, I’ve seen quite a bit of Excursions and Suburbans with huge shiny chrome rims wrapped around 10-series rubber bands. Maybe they are onto something?
“Second, friction losses in expanding and compressing air are extremely low,
far lower then flexing any solid material, so rolling resistance will always be lower, relative to ride harshness.”
That is NOT how rolling resistance work. Flexing causes a temporary flat spots on the outer diameter of the wheels. The distance from the axle’s center to the edge of the flat spots causes a resisting torque that the propulsion has to overcome. Train wheels flexes a lot less, hence they have greater efficiency than truck tires.