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I am looking for help. I want to know if to go for a xtr or
sram 1x11 or 12 mountain bike and change the knobbie tires
to street tires.

Lets take these separately, first both brands offer 12 gear
or 11 gear, but only the newest Shimano offers their new
group set. Which brand to get.

Also I would be buying a whole new bike, which brand offers
the best bang for the buck, bikes have sure gotten way more expensive since my 20 year old Fuji, does any brand give you value for money?

Then the tires, I wanted an urban bike for regular streets
but no real choice for 1x12 available. I want flat bars
because I have old joints and its easier to ride without
all the weight on my wrists. Does street tires on a mountain bike make sense for a smoother ride. What size
wheels and tire would make sense.

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Regarding 11-speed and 12-speed, both SRAM and Shimano now ofter 1x12 systems. SRAM’s system has been out for awhile (about 2 years I think). Shimano’s 12-speed is more recently released. I can’t attest to the Shimano 1x12, but I’m sure it’s solid. I have the 1x12 SRAM Eagle GX on my mountain bike. Only had the system about 6 months but it has been excellent.

Adjustment of the system is, however, critical for it to work correctly. As one can imagine, for the derailleur to be able to shift reliably between a 10T and 50T cogs, everything has to be aligned. It’s not hard to do. SRAM offers several step-by-step setup videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wCt9BJRNew

As to bike brands, as I heard on a podcast recently, there are a lot of great bikes out there nowadays.

The first item is determine what sort of riding you are doing. While you can certainly put “street” tires on a mountain bike, mountain bikes are going to be typically heavier that a road bike. The frames have to be stronger and they typically have suspension (front-only “hardtail” or full-suspension).

The reason 1x12 is available on MTB’s is because it provides greater range of gearing for hill climbing. It is likely not available on road bikes because of the weight penalty of the extra cog and roads are not likely to be a steep as the hills encountered mountain biking.

One good workaround to a 1x12 on a road bike (if it would even fit a road bike frame) is to consider installing a smaller chainring on the front to improve your mechanical advantage. The trade off is of course that you potentially lose some top-speed capability.

A good starting place for finding a bike might be, Trek’s “find a bike” offers a good step thru of selecting a bike based on how you want to use the bike.

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/

Beyond internet research, the very best thing to do is to check out an independent bike shop or two in your area. Most shops will carry a range of brands and you can often tell from even a brief ride around the parking lot as to whether or not a bike “fits” you. You can also often get a decent discount at a bike shop on in-stock bikes that are new, but the prior year’s model. Ask questions. let them explain the options. A good independent shop will have bike enthusiasts working there who want other people to enjoy biking.

I would avoid purchasing a bike from one of the big chain operations like Dick’s Sporting Goods or Walmart. Especially Walmart. It’s unlikely the salesman in those stores would be particularly knowlegable about the bikes and the selection of bikes will be both limited and, in the case of Walmart, of dubious quality.