now i can butt in with one of my overly lengthy lectures
tyre design is pretty complex.
to answer why a racer may prefer fatter tyres despite skinny having least resistance, i think that was covered...hitting potholes.
now, you said thick walled. that means that they dont flex much. theres less deformation at the contact patch, which is added friction as the tyre revolves and the tyre is constantly deforming then springing back in place... much the same as pumping the pressure up high.
thin walls and high pressures would seem to be the go, as the minimal rubber has minimal friction, and air, well, it doesnt mind deforming too much
but
theres the roll over in corners, or the way the sidewall tends to bulge as you increase the side load on the bike... it can be really disconcerting coming through a corner and having the rear end feel "loose". think what its like when you have your tyre nearly flat! the front just tends to wash out...
as the sidewall height increases, this effect gets worse...
add more weight to the bike, it gets worse...
tread pattern on a pushy isnt really a big issue. the contact patch is so small, hydroplaning due to slicks is virtually impossible, and on loose gravel...youre going to be slipping around anyway. big chunky stuff is good on mud and wet grass mind you
the fatter the tyre, the larger the contact patch, BUT...keep the load the same, and the PSI loading on the contact point is much higher on the skinny... much harder to get it to let go. on the other hand, it sinks into anything soft... yep. big fat tyres on a car just make it easier to lose traction! but do sorta look cool...
which then leads to the final thing i can think of.
a big wide contact patch "scrubs". this is a function of the tread radius, or profile.
the tyre is its own differential!
think about it. the centre is the widest point, and travels the fastest. you lean over, and the outer point, or centre of the tread, has to travel slightly further than the inside point, thats somewhere between centre and sidewall...
these four radii (two from the axle to contact points, two from turning circle centre to contact points) need to be spot on with the amount of lean, to corner really neatly
so a lot of development goes into the suitable pressures,curvatures, rubber...on and on and on...
thats what i HATE about motorbikes...it can be upwards of a 700 dollar experiment on tyres... you know when you get good ones though. currently i like pirelli the best... not a chicken strip in sight, front or back!
and, due to differences in frame geometry, what suits one wont suit another...
consider a plain steel drum, 44 gallon if you will. it wants to just go in straight lines. whereas old timber barrels are curved, so you can lean em into the turns! (train wheels are also tapered in the same manner, for the bends, with flanges so they dont fall off {on that note, thats the one point on a train that ALWAYS travels backwards!})
youll notice car wheels when rolled around want to go straight as well.
watch a three axle truck trailer take a tight turn! theres a reason the third axle usually lifts off the ground when the things are unloaded. saves the wear on every turn. truck tyres cost a lot. but all the rear tyres cop a hiding, being doubled up and everything...something is always scrubbing, and at least one set of tyres is being slid sideways with doubled axles!
class dismissed
mainly, its a bit of personal preference. we all ride a bit differently