Working in a shop that has recovered countless stolen bikes I can assure you a cheap looking bike is not any less likely to be stolen, at least in our area. People steal beat up old bikes far more often than higher end bikes.

I get it if the bike does much more than commuter duty but if it is simply a commuter why not just use deore level components? You really are not loosing much at all in terms of performance and you do not have to stress as much about possible "what ifs".