Atroz $500 Upgrade Budget

I have a pure stock Atroz 1 and I'm looking to upgrade it for $500 (most useful upgrades for the money). This bike will be my last for a while and it will be used for local rolling hills and also occasional trips to the NC mountains. I'd love to upgrade to xt 1×11 ($300ish based on Amazon prices). Ebay has a number of wheel sets (DT Swiss syncro xr2.5 etc) that are $250 price range that look nice but I'm not sure if they're much different than my stock wheels.

What would you do with the $500 budget for my bike?

Sell it... add the proceeds to your $500, then buy a new gently used bike. You'll get a LOT more for your money that way than trying to upgrade your existing platform.

I stumbled upon a new in box 2017 Diamond Mission 1 for about $850, and have been enjoying it since August. Deals ARE out there if you are patient.

So, the above post is very valid. The problem with the Atroz, is that its not super easily upgraded.

For instance, the bike is setup for a straight 1 1/8in steerer tube fork. Almost all forks nowadays are 1 1/8 - 1 1/2in tapered. So finding a deal on a fork to upgrade yours, will be very difficulty (tapered has been the standard for quite some time... like ~2012ish at least).

The fork, and rear axle spacing are "non boost". "Boost" spacing wheels have been the main standard for a few years now, but its easier to find "non boost" wheels than it is to find a good straight steerer tube fork. However, if you went to upgrade your current bike, your wheels likely wouldn't be able to cross over to the new bike.

Additionally, it doesn't look like the frame supports an internal dropper post. This is not as big of a deal as the other points, but you would be "stuck" doing an external dropper.

I think IF you are really wanting to upgrade your current bike, then what I'd spend money on, is stuff that I COULD transfer over to a new bike fairly easily.

With that in mind... I'd grab some hydraulic brakes. You may be able to find a deal on a used set of "lower end" brakes (still a massive upgrade from mechanical) someone took off of their new bike. Alternatively, you can find deals good brakes like Shimano XT on Jenson for like $80-90 (each, so ~$160-180 total).

Then I'd look at 1x10, or 1x11 drivetrain options (should be ~$180 for a complete set IIRC), and maybe some new more aggressive tires. That would about use up your whole budget.

Or just save up, and leap-frog from this bike to a different one that is a bit easier to upgrade. Whatever works for you.