I prefer the black rubber since they can be crowned and are simpler to install.
If you wheels are crowned then it's not a problem. You can just install the tires and not have to worry about trueing and crowning.
I completely agree with Jeff, the black rubber tires are the way to go.
I guess if you remove the tires now, you will not be able to use the saw, but if you did remove the tires, you could see if the wheels are crowned or not, if they are crowned, then you are good to go, pick a color you like. If the wheels are flat (most, not all of the older saws were flat) then you need to crown the tires.
I'm not very knowledgeable about bandsaws, so gotta ask... what does crowning mean...
Chuck, the wheels that I got for my bandsaw build were from an older Taiwanese saw, they were 14" but they were NOT crowned, I had to replace the old tires, and I got some of the new orange tires. I could not for love or money make my blades run true, it just about drove me over the edge
The former owner, Steve Clardy, said he had no problem, but he only ran a very narrow blade on the saw, 1/4" or so, for scrolling. I could get that to run straight, but nothing else.
I ended up with a bit of a problem with the glue on the black tires, it was a mess, and ruined them, my own fault, so it was suggested to me to run a few wraps of electricians tape (that I cut to be about 1/4" wide) around the center of each wheel, then put the tires on, and they would be crowned, well it worked, and worked well, I still use it set up like that, and run a 1/2" or even 3/4" blade without any problem.
Why does crowning work?
Well if the wheel is flat, the blade, under tension can certainly be made to run straight but things really have to be nicely lined up, if the wheels are crowned, the blade, spinning along on the wheel will always run up to the high part of the wheel, the crown.
I hope that explains it, and it does not take much of a crown at all, I think I have three wraps of electricians tape of a crown on mine.
Cheers!