Bearings today come in many many levels of quality.

Try next time a set of Phil Woods and you probably will have many happy miles in front of you.

I replaced mine too and never had a crank that was so easy turning compared to the original shimano's.

Als if you ride in all kind of weather do every 6 month's dismantle your BB bearings and clean all the grease out en replace with new grease of you choice.