Originally Posted by
ktk90w
I agree that the order doesn't really matter, but something you said made me thing about this: The one rule I try to never break when putting a bike together is that I never tighten something part way. That is, if it looks like it could be tight, I make sure that it is put on with the right torque and ready to ride. Too often I get called away from my bike projects by something else, and I come back to it days later, having forgotten exactly what I've done. I don't ever want to hop on the bike and start riding, only to remember that I hadn't *quite* tightened the stem up all the way.
Others are probably not as absent-minded as me, but when the OP said that things were snug, but not tight, this is what I thought about.
As most say, order doesn't really matter, although it makes very little sense to mount the front derailleur before mounting the cranks. But I guess if you leave it loose...
And tightening things to full torque right away seems less than ideal unless you are forgetful or normally in a rush. There aren't that many nuts and bolts on a bike that you can't go back through them all and double check with a torque wrench (especially if it's your bike and you can take your time). You could also use one of those marking pens to check off the bolts you have torqued (you see that on some new motorcycles, maybe cars too).