An electrografting technique has been combined with ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Poly(allyl methacrylate) chains have been chemisorbed onto steel and carbon plates under an appropriate cathodic potential in N,N-dimethylformamide. The allyl moieties have been converted into Ru catalysts active in ROMP of norbornene and its derivatives. Initiation of ROMP from the surface is an efficient strategy to prepare strongly adhering coatings of tunable thickness and hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance, depending on the norbornene derivative polymerized at the surface.