rtay

I'm thinking of changing my handle bars to a compact size with shallow drops. I'm not really sure the size of my bars at the moment and tried to measure it and found that it is approx 46cm across to the outer sides. Can anyone tell me how handle bar width is measured? I ride a 56cm and I've been told that a 42cm handle bar is pretty standard on a 56. Also, does anyone know the impact of moving to a narrower bar? Will it affect the handling? I know that going for a compact bar will move my hoods closer, which is actually what I want as I feel a little stretched out right now. Another thing is I'm thinking of changing the stem from 100mm to 90mm and changing the angle from 6 degrees to 10 degrees which will mean lowering it slightly. I know shortening the stem and moving the brake hoods closer may mean twitchier handling but does moving the angle to 10 degrees help to compensate this? Thanks everyone!